Explain the following statement with reasons: The ‘Carnatic Wars’ were fought between British and French.

Answer:

• Both the English and the French East India Companies traded on the Coromandel coast (Madras and Pondicherry) and wanted supremacy over trade in India.
• Their rivalry was increased by wars between England and France in Europe (War of Austrian Succession, Seven Years' War) and by the political ambition of the French governor Dupleix.
• Both companies interfered in the succession disputes of the Carnatic and Hyderabad. Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1746 and 1763.
• The English won the decisive battle of Wandiwash (1760) under Sir Eyre Coote; the French power in India declined and the English became dominant.