He has a considerable force of French soldiers at his command, and by the aid which he has given to the nawab, upon various occasions, he has obtained a predominating influence in his councils.
"When war was declared between England and France, in the year '44, the English squadron under Commodore Barnet was upon the coast, and the Company sent out orders to Mr.Morse, the governor of Madras, to use every effort to destroy the French settlement, of whose rising power they felt the greatest jealousy.

Dupleix, seeing the force that could be brought against him, and having no French ships on the station, although he was aware that a fleet under Admiral La Bourdonnais was fitting out and would arrive shortly, dreaded the contest, and proposed to Mr.Morse that the Indian colonies of the two nations should remain neutral, and take no part in the struggle in which their respective countries were engaged.

Mr.Morse, however, in view of the orders he had received from the Company, was unable to agree to this.
"Dupleix then applied to the nawab who, at his request, forbade his European tenants to make war on land with each other, an order which they were obliged to obey.
"In July, 1746, La Bourdonnais arrived with his fleet, and chased the small English squadron from the Indian seas.

Dupleix now changed his tactics, and regardless of the injunction which he himself had obtained from the nawab, he determined to crush the English at Madras.
He supplied the fleet with men and money, and ordered the admiral to sail for Madras.

The fleet arrived before the town on the 14th of September; landed a portion of its troops, six hundred in number, with two guns, a short distance along the coast; and on the following day disembarked the rest, consisting of a thousand French troops, four hundred Sepoys, and three hundred African troops, and summoned Madras to surrender.
"Madras was in no position to offer any effectual resistance.