With reference to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, which of the following statements is/are correct ?
1. The first Carnatic war ended.
2. Madras was returned to the British.
Select the correct ans

Question

With reference to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748, which of the following statements is/are correct ?
1. The first Carnatic war ended.
2. Madras was returned to the British.
Select the correct answer from the code given below :

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, Both 1 and 2. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was signed on 18 October 1748 to end the War of the Austrian Succession in Europe, and because the First Carnatic War (1746–48) was simply that European war fought out in India by the English and French East India Companies, the peace in Europe automatically terminated the fighting in India — so statement 1 is true. Statement 2 is true as well. The French under La Bourdonnais had captured Madras in September 1746, and the treaty required its restoration to the English; the British in turn gave up Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in North America, which they had taken in 1745. Madras was therefore handed back not because the English won it on the battlefield but because it was traded away at a European negotiating table. Both statements stand, so the key marks (b).

Why the other options are wrong — (a) It accepts the return of Madras but denies that the First Carnatic War ended. In fact the two go together: the war in the Carnatic had no independent Indian cause and no independent Indian settlement — it began as an offshoot of the War of the Austrian Succession — Europe's war opened in 1740, Britain and France declared war on each other in 1744, the fighting reached the Carnatic in 1746 — and it stopped the moment they made peace at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.  (c) Both statements are correct, so rejecting both is doubly wrong. Ending the First Carnatic War and restoring Madras to the English are the two standard textbook consequences of this treaty for India.  (d) It accepts that the war ended but denies the restoration of Madras, presumably on the assumption that the French kept what they had captured. They did not — giving Madras back was the treaty's principal Indian provision, made in exchange for Louisbourg in North America. The English were back in Madras from 1749.

Concept: The three Carnatic Wars (1746–48, 1749–54, 1758–63) were the contest between the English and French East India Companies for supremacy in south India. The first of them is the purest example of India being a side theatre of European politics: it opened because the War of the Austrian Succession had broken out in Europe and closed because that war was settled at Aix-la-Chapelle. Nothing was decided in India itself — the territorial position was simply restored, with Madras going back to the English and the English failing in their attempt on Pondicherry. What did change was the perception of power: the war showed both companies how much could be won in India with small, disciplined European-trained forces.

State PCS 2025 Q69 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q69 — History PYQ with Answer