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 CHAPTER II

The System of Dupleix

Joseph Francis Dupleix was born at Landrecies in 1697. From an early age he was destined by his father, who was Farmer-General and Director-General of the Company of the Indies, to a commercial career. To such a career the boy, who had displayed a strong inclination for the exact sciences, shewed a decided aversion. To cure him, his father sent him, at the age of seventeen, to sea. The result corresponded to his hopes. The young sailor returned from his voyages on the Atlantic and Indian oceans anxious to take a part in the world of enterprise and commerce, ready to bend himself to his father's will. The father responded by obtaining for him a high post in the service of the Company of the Indies at Pondichery. Dupleix joined his appointment in 1720. He soon came to the conclusion that it would be possible to make Pondichery the principal emporium of trade in southern India. The Governor, Lenoir, whilst recognising the feasibility of the plan, was deterred from