Battle of Chandannagar

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Battle of Chandannagar

On 23 March 1757, during the Seven Years' War and the Third Carnatic War, a British force captured the French settlement of Chandernagore, ten miles up the Hooghly River from Calcutta. The attack was led by Robert Clive, with Charles Watson commanding three Royal Navy ships—the Kent, Tiger, and Salisbury—and accompanying land forces. The French fort had about 16 cannons.

Clive aimed to weaken the Nawab of Bengal and chose Chandernagore as a first step. The English faced stiff resistance, and the Tiger suffered heavy casualties (killed and wounded). Nevertheless, the British pressed the assault, edging the Kent and Tiger up the river past scuttled ships and river chains to bombard the fort. The fort surrendered, and the town’s defenses and many houses were demolished. Chandannagar’s importance as a commercial center was eclipsed by Calcutta.

Chandannagar remained under British occupation until the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which restored it to France. It was occupied again by the British in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars and was returned to France in 1816, along with a surrounding enclave, remaining part of French India until 1950.

The battle gave Britain control over Calcutta and the Bengal region and helped push the French from Bengal, contributing to Britain’s rising dominance in India.