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Joseph François Dupleix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor-General of French India | |
| In office 14 January 1742 – 15 October 1754 | |
| Monarch | Louis XV |
| Preceded by | Pierre Benoît Dumas |
| Succeeded by | Charles Godeheu As Acting Governor-General |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 January 1697[citation needed] Landrecies,France |
| Died | 10 November 1763 (aged 66) Paris, France |
| Spouse | Jeanne Albert |
| Parent |
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| Occupation | Governor-General of French India |
Joseph Marquis Dupleix (French pronunciation:[ʒozɛfmaʁkidyplɛks]; Unknown – 10 November 1763) wasGovernor-General ofFrench India and rival ofRobert Clive.
Dupleix was born inLandrecies, on January 23, 1697[citation needed]. His father, François Dupleix, a wealthyfermier général, wished to bring him up as a merchant, and, in order to distract him from his taste for science, sent him on a voyage to India in 1715 on one of theFrench East India Company's vessels. He made several voyages to theAmericas and India, and in 1720 was named a member of the superior council atBengal. He displayed great business aptitude, and in addition to his official duties made large ventures on his own account, acquiring a fortune.[1]
In 1730 he was made superintendent of French affairs inChandernagore. In 1741, he marriedJeanne Albert, widow of one of the councillors of the company. Albert was known to the Hindus asJoanna Begum and proved of great help to her husband in his negotiations with the native princes.[1]
His reputation procured him in 1742 the appointment of governor general of all French establishments in India.[2] Dupleix saw in the constant succession disputes among the Princes of India an opportunity to advance the interests of the French in India,[3] and for this purpose he entered into relations with the native princes, and adopted a style of oriental splendour in his dress and surroundings.[1] He built an army of native troops, calledsepoys, who were trained as infantry men in his service and also included the famousHyder Ali ofMysore.
The British were alarmed by this, but the danger to their settlements and power was partly averted by the bitter mutual jealousy which existed between Dupleix andBertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, French governor of the Isle of Bourbon[1] (today'sLa Réunion).
When the city ofMadras capitulated to the French following theBattle of Madras[3] in 1746, Dupleix opposed that the town be returned under British rule, thus violating the treaty signed by La Bourdonnais. He then sent an expedition againstFort St David (1747), which won over theNawab of Arcot, ally of the British. Dupleix again attempted the capture of Fort St David, and this time succeeded.[1]
In 1748 Calcutta was besieged by the French, but in the course of the operations news arrived of the peace concluded between the French and the British atAix-la-Chapelle. Dupleix next entered into negotiations about the subjugation of southern India. He sent a large body of troops to the aid of the two claimants of the sovereignty of theCarnatic and theDeccan. The British sided with their rivals to prevent the plans of Dupleix from materializing.[1]
In 1750 the Subadar of Deccan gifted theAlamparai Fort to the French. This was a token of his appreciation of the services of Dupleix and the French forces to his services.[citation needed]
From 1751, Dupleix tried to expand French influence inBurma by sending the envoySieur de Bruno, and by providing military assistance theMon in their conflict with theBurmese. Bruno proved remarkably successful in this effort, resulting in closer ties between the French and the Mon. However, the advent of the Seven Years' War meant that as French attentions were elsewhere this relationship came to nothing.[4]
In 1754 the French government, anxious to make peace, sent out to India a special commissioner with orders to supersede Dupleix and, if necessary, to arrest him. These orders were carried out harshly, what survived of Dupleix's work was ruined at a blow, and he himself was compelled to embark for France on 12 October 1754. He had spent his private fortune in the prosecution of his public policy, but the company refused to acknowledge the obligation, and the government would do nothing for a man whom they persisted in regarding as an ambitious and greedy adventurer. He died in obscurity on 10 November 1763.[1]
A number of things were named in his honour:
French recognition of his Dupliex's contribution came only in 1870, with the commissioning of two statues – one in Puducherry and the other in France. The former statue is now situated in Goubert Avenue at the end of Rock Beach. It was first installed on 16 July 1870. In 1979 the statue was moved from the middle of the current Bharathy park to its current location at the beach.
Dupleix is represented as a man of commanding stature. In the large nose and massive under jaw, some resemblance may be traced toOliver Cromwell as commonly represented in his portraits. In the statue, Dupleix wears Court dress with bag wig and long riding boots; in his right hand is a plan of Puducherry, his left reposing on the hilt of his sword.[5]
Restoration of the Dupleix statue was undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the government of Puducherry in 2014.[6]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Dupleix statue.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dupleix, Joseph François".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 687.
Media related toJoseph François Dupleix at Wikimedia Commons| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Governor-General ofFrench India 14 January 1742 – 15 October 1754 | Succeeded by Charles Godeheu Le commissaire (Acting) |
