100 THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH COMPANIES

principality had been established by one Saadat- Allah; but on his death the succession was disputed, and though the disorders that ensued were temporarily sup- pressed by the Nizam, they necessarily weakened local authority in- the country round the English and French settlements. It was here that the French and English came to blows in 1745, as soon as the news of a dec- laration of war between France and England reached India. And from this outbreak of hostilities is to be dated the first crossing of swords on Indian soil in a national duel which lasted, with short intervals, for eighteen years, until one of the combatants was dis- armed and virtually driven off the field. When, in 1741, Dupleix was appointed Director-Gen- eral of the affairs of the French East India Company, he succeeded to an office that had been held by two predecessors of character and capacity, who had shown great tact and judgment in their dealings with the native powers. Mahe and Karikal had been quietly acquired for France; and during the confusion into which the whole Karnatic was thrown by the Maratha invasion in 1740, the Mohammedan princes had found shelter for their families and treasure behind the walls of Pondicherri. But the plans and aims of the French had not travelled beyond the security and extension of their commerce until the stirring and ambitious spirit of Dupleix, who made no secret of his opinion that the French temperament was better suited for conquest than for commerce, led the Company into a more adven- turous field of action. He foresaw that in the event