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Question 28 of 73 · Arrival of Europeans & Expansion of British Rule
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The Battle of Adyar (St. Thome), in which a small French force defeated the large army of the Nawab of the Carnatic, was fought in:

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Answer: Option C — 1746

Detailed Solution

The Battle of Adyar (also called the Battle of St. Thome) was fought in November 1746, during the First Carnatic War, between a small French force and the large army of Anwaruddin, the Nawab of the Carnatic.

Background - the First Carnatic War (1746-1748):

  • The war was an extension of the War of the Austrian Succession in Europe, in which Britain and France were on opposite sides.
  • In India, the English and French East India Companies fought each other.
  • In 1746, the French, under the governor of Pondicherry and the naval commander La Bourdonnais, captured Madras from the English.
  • The Nawab of the Carnatic, Anwaruddin, in whose territory both companies traded, ordered the French to stop fighting and to hand Madras over to him.
  • The French refused.

The battle:

The Nawab sent a large army, under his son Mahfuz Khan, against the French.

A small French force of a few hundred well-trained soldiers, under Captain Paradis, defeated the Nawab's army of about 10,000 men at the Adyar river, near Madras (St. Thome).

Significance:

  • The battle showed the superiority of disciplined European-trained troops, with modern weapons and tactics, over the large but poorly organised Indian armies.
  • This encouraged the European companies to interfere in Indian politics and to build up armies of Indian soldiers (sepoys) trained in European methods.

End of the war:

  • The First Carnatic War ended in 1748 with a European peace treaty.
  • Madras was returned to the English.

The Carnatic Wars:

  • First (1746-1748).
  • Second (1749-1754): the English and French supported rival claimants in the Carnatic and Hyderabad.
  • Third (1756-1763).

About the Carnatic:

  • It was the region of the eastern coast of south India (the Coromandel coast), with its capital at Arcot.
  • Its Nawab was nominally under the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗1744, 1749 and 1751 are other years of the period.

Quick tip

Remember: Battle of Adyar (St. Thome), 1746 = small French force (Captain Paradis) defeated the Nawab of the Carnatic's army (First Carnatic War); showed the superiority of European-trained troops.

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Arrival of Europeans & Expansion of British Rule — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Arrival of Europeans & Expansion of British Rule, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers the arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch, English, Danes and French in India, the growth of the East India Company, and the battles, wars and treaties through which British power expanded, including the Battles of Plassey and Buxar, the Anglo-Mysore, Anglo-Maratha and Anglo-Sikh wars, and policies such as subsidiary alliance and the doctrine of lapse. Typical questions ask which battle was fought in which year and between whom, which treaty ended which war, and which Governor-General introduced a policy. For example, the Battle of Plassey (1757) was fought between Robert Clive and Siraj-ud-Daulah, and the Treaty of Allahabad (1765) gave the Company the diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Practise the arrival of Europeans and expansion of British rule questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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