Chap. IV.] THE CAIINATIC. 429
shadow of what it liad once been ; in all quarters chiefs who liad formerly been a.d. i-is. subordinate were aspiring to independence, and, to all appearance, a general scramble for territory was about to ensue. Under such circumstances, wh' should the two most powerful nations of Europe con.sent to have their hands tied up, and to remain inactive spectators of a struggle in which their interests, perhaps their very existence was involved? Why should they not become, if not principals, at least auxiliaries, and give — or, not to mince the matter — sell their skill and prowess to the party able and willing to pay for thi'ni mo.st liberally? Such thoughts had long been familiar to Dupleix, whose imagina- tion was warmed, and ambition inflamed, while he contemplated the possibility of associating his name with the establishment of a French Indian empire. The superiority of the forces which he could bring into the field could no longer be called in (question. With a mere handful of men he had already put armies to flight. Haughty chiefs, who formerly despised him, had crouchingly courted his alliance, and he had only to temper force with policy, in order to compel or persuade them to acknowledge him as their master. In the English Compan}' no individual had yet appeared in a position which permitted him to entertain, or pointed him out to othei*s as destined to realize similar views ; but there can be no doubt that, both at home and abroad, territorial aggrandisement in India was by many contemplated as practicable, and longed for as most desirable. The (juestion of aggrandisement being thus virtually decided in the aflSrmative, '""t***' '•»
tweeii the
both by France and England, the contest for Indian supremacy did not cease, rren. i. ana but only changed its form, in conseqiience of the peace ; and the troops of the in.ua l<,i, two nations, no longer permitted to turn their arms directly against each other, *""""' had recom-se to the expedient of doing it indirectly, by taking opposite sides in native quan-els. To show in what manner, to what extent, and with what results this was done, it will now be necessary to give some account of that por- tion of Southern Iniha where this species of armed neutralit}' between the British and French was first exhibited.
CHAPTKR lY.
Tlie Carnatic— Its political state— Traasactions inTanjore— Early career of Clive— Siege of Tricliinopoly.
S7X.'».'K]T:r!>;r.".;.'rr.-.;r.,-:.>.'.-^ -
^ TIE Carnatic, anciently called Canara, properly denotes the tract B..undarieK I of countiy where the Canara language is spoken, but has long l!!!il,^;i!«'!!j^ J since lost its original application, and has two principal mean- ^^^^""'^^ ings, one more extensive, and the otlier more limited ; the for- mer, including luider it nearly tlie whole of the south-eastern portion of the Indian peninsula, from the Kistna to Cape Comorin, and the
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