ABSTRACT
The French governors in Pondicherry since Rue Francois Martin up to Joseph Francois Dupleix never acquired any territory for France or the French Company through outright conquest. Instead the territories that they acquired were ceded by the Indian rulers and princes on certain conditions. Dupleix himself had never claimed in any of his letters or correspondence or reports either before 1754 or after that he was acting according to a grand plan that he had conceived to establish his power or the French power in India in any way. Dupleix never understood that the Indian rulers, right from Chanda Sahib to Salabet Jung were actually making use of the French troops and sepoys as well as Dupleix to assert their authority in the evolving political struggles in the Deccan, the Carnatic and Tamil Nadu. The conquest of Madras by the French and the defence of Pondicherry against the English had earned Dupleix and the French a certain reputation.
