UPPSC 2025 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 69 of 150

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).

• (a)Only 2 — 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)Neither 1 nor 2 — 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)Only 1 — 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.

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.

Two things make this question feel harder than it is. First, 'Aix-la-Chapelle' is a European place name, so candidates do not always connect it to the Carnatic at all. Second, the instinct that a treaty must have produced a winner makes statement 2 look suspicious — surely the French would have kept Madras? The correct frame is that this was a status-quo-ante peace: conquests made during the war were swapped back, and Madras was returned as part of a global exchange that also involved Louisbourg. Keep the three closing treaties in a single line — Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) closed the first war, the Treaty of Pondicherry (1754) the second, and the Treaty of Paris (1763) the third.

• The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed 18 October 1748, ended the War of the Austrian Succession in Europe and with it the First Carnatic War (1746–48), its Indian theatre
• Madras had been captured by the French under La Bourdonnais in September 1746; the treaty restored it to the English in exchange for Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in North America
• The First Carnatic War began and ended because of events in Europe — the clearest illustration that early Anglo-French conflict in India was an extension of European rivalry
• At the Battle of St. Thome, on the Adyar river in 1746, a small French force defeated the far larger army of Anwaruddin, Nawab of the Carnatic — a demonstration of what trained European infantry and artillery could do against much bigger Indian armies
• The Second Carnatic War (1749–54) had no European war behind it: it was fought through succession disputes in Hyderabad and the Carnatic and was closed by the Treaty of Pondicherry, after which Dupleix was recalled to France
• The Third Carnatic War was decided at the Battle of Wandiwash (1760) and closed by the Treaty of Paris (1763), which left the French with trading posts they were not permitted to fortify

• Mixing up which treaty closed which Carnatic War — Aix-la-Chapelle 1748 for the first, Pondicherry 1754 for the second, Paris 1763 for the third
• Assuming the French kept Madras after capturing it in 1746; it was returned to the English in 1748, swapped for Louisbourg in North America
• Treating the First Carnatic War as a quarrel with Indian origins — it was the Indian extension of the War of the Austrian Succession
• Confusing the Battle of St. Thome (1746, first war) with the Battle of Wandiwash (1760, third war)

UPPSC has now put this exact treaty into a two-statement code twice, in 2020 and again in 2025, in both cases pairing the end of the First Carnatic War with the return of Madras. UPSC prefers the pair or personality format — matching a battle to its combatants, or asking which European first exploited the quarrels of Indian princes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), Madras was restored to the English in exchange for which possession?

  • (a)Pondicherry in India
  • (b)Louisbourg in North America
  • (c)Mauritius in the Indian Ocean
  • (d)Chandernagore in Bengal

  Answer(b) Louisbourg in North America — the fortress on Cape Breton Island that the British had captured in 1745 was given back to France in return for Madras.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which battle of the Third Carnatic War decisively ended French ambitions of political supremacy in India?

  • (a)Battle of St. Thome
  • (b)Battle of Wandiwash
  • (c)Battle of Plassey
  • (d)Battle of Buxar

  Answer(b) Battle of Wandiwash — fought in 1760, where Eyre Coote defeated Count de Lally; the war was formally closed by the Treaty of Paris in 1763.