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DUPLEIX, JOSEPH FRANCOIS (1697-1763)

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 687 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DUPLEIX, See also:JOSEPH See also:FRANCOIS (1697-1763) , See also:governor-See also:general of the See also:French See also:establishment in See also:India, the See also:great See also:rival of See also:Clive (q.v.), was See also:born at Landrecies, See also:France, on the 1st of See also:January 1697. His See also:father, Francois Dupleix, a wealthy See also:farmer-general, wished to bring him up as a See also:merchant, and, in See also:order to distract him from his See also:taste for See also:science, sent him on a voyage to India in 1715 on one of the French See also:East India See also:Company's vessels. He made several voyages to See also:America and India, and in 1720 was named a member of the See also:superior See also:council at See also:Pondicherry. He displayed great business aptitude, and, in addition to his See also:official duties, made large ventures on his own See also:account, and acquired a See also:fortune. In 1730 he was made See also:superintendent of French affairs in See also:Chandernagore, the See also:town prospering under his energetic See also:administration and growing into great importance. His reputation procured him in 1742 the See also:appointment of governor-general of all French establishments in India. His ambition now was to acquire for France vast territories in India; and for this purpose he entered into relations with the native princes, and adopted a See also:style of See also:oriental splendour in his See also:dress and surroundings. The See also:British took the alarm. But the danger to their settlements and See also:power was partly averted by the See also:bitter mutual See also:jealousy which existed between Dupleix and La Bourdonnais, French governor of the isle of See also:Bourbon. When See also:Madras capitulated to the French in 1764, Dupleix opposed the restoration of the town to the British, thus violating the treaty signed by La Bourdonnais. He then sent an expedition against Fort St See also:David (1747), which was defeated on its See also:march by the See also:nawab of See also:Arcot, the ally of the British. Dupleix succeeded in gaining over the nawab, and again attempted the See also:capture of Fort St David, but unsuccessfully.

A midnight attack on See also:

Cuddalore was repulsed with great loss. In 1748 Pondicherry was besieged by the British; but in the course of the operations See also:news arrived of the See also:peace concluded between the French and the British at See also:Aix-la-Chapelle. Dupleix next entered into negotiations which had for their See also:object the subjugation of See also:southern India, and he sent a large See also:body of troops to the aid of two claimants of the See also:sovereignty of the Varnatic and the See also:Deccan. The British were engaged on ire See also:side of their rivals. After temporary successes the See also:scheme failed. Dupleix was a great organizer, but did notpossess the See also:genius for command in the See also:field that was shown by Clive. The conflicts between the French and the British in India continued till 1754, when the French See also:government, anxious to make peace, sent out to India a See also:special See also:commissioner with orders to supersede Dupleix and, if necessary, to See also:arrest him. These orders were carried out with needless harshness, what survived of Dupleix's See also:work was ruined at a See also:blow, and he himself was compelled to embark for France on the 12th of See also:October 1754. He had spent his private fortune in the See also:prosecution of his public policy; the company refused to acknowledge the See also:obligation; and the government would do nothing for a See also:man whom they persisted in regarding as an ambitious and greedy adventurer. The greatest of French colonial See also:governors died in obscurity and want on the loth of See also:November 1763. In 1741 he had married Jeanne See also:Albert, widow of one of the councillors of the company, a woman of strong See also:character and See also:intellect, known to the See also:Hindus as See also:Joanna Begum, who proved of great use to her See also:husband in his negotiations with the native princes. She died in 1756, and two years later he married again.

See Tibulle Hamont, Dupleix, d'apres sa correspondance inedite See also:

Paris, 1881); H. Castonnet, Dupleix, ses expeditions et ses projets Paris, 1888) and La Chute de Dupleix (See also:Angers, 1888) ; G. B. See also:Malleson, Dupleix (Rulers of India See also:series, 189o) ; and E. See also:Guerin, Dupleix (1908).

End of Article: DUPLEIX, JOSEPH FRANCOIS (1697-1763)

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