| Battle of Adyar | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofCarnatic Wars First Carnatic War | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Anwaruddin Khan Mahfuz Khan |  Louis Paradis | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 10,000 infantry and cavalry | 350 French soldiers 700 French-trained Indian Sepoys | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 300 | 2 Sepoys killed | ||||||||
TheBattle of Adyar (also theBattle of Adyar River) took place on 24 October 1746.[1] The battle was between theFrench East India Company men and forces ofNawab of Arcot,Anwaruddin Khan over theSt. George Fort, which was held by the French. It was part of theFirst Carnatic War between the English and the French.[2][3]
The French capturedFort St. George from theBritish East Indian Company. Nawab of Arcot, a close ally of the British, set out to regain it by sending troops, led by his son Mahfuz Khan, toMadras. While leading an army of 10,000, he was dispersed by French forces, forcing him to move south. Khan seizedSan Thomé and formed a battle line on the north bank of theAdyar River on 22 October to prevent the French from moving up reinforcements fromPondicherry.
Led by the Swiss engineering officer, Major Louis Paradis, some 350 French and 700 French-trained Indian troops force marched from Pondicherry, crossedQuibble Island and took positions on the south bank of theAdyar 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 theAdayar river to attack the rear of Mahfuz Khan's battle line. de la Tour arrived too late to support Paradis, who with disciplined firing and then charging with bayonets, broke the Nawab's line. Mahfuz Khan's troops fled and the Battle of the Adyar River, which began on the morning of 24 October 1746, ended that evening with the French retaining control over Fort St. George.[4]
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. Theflintlockmusket 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 tospar over French-controlledPondicherry and British-heldFort St. David without either side gaining territory. TheTreaty of Aix-la-Chappelle resulted in the French handing Madras back to the British, in exchange forLouisbourg in 1748.
