Page:History of the French in India.djvu/259

 THE FRENCH ASSIST CHANDA SAHIB. 237 assisted by 400 Europeans, he agreed to make to the chap. French the cession of a small tract of land in the imme- Vr ' diate neighbourhood of Pondichery. Whilst arrange- 1749. ments were in progress for these troops to join him, he had succeeded in making his way, after some changes of fortune, to the frontiers of the Karnatik, and in augmenting his force to 6,000 men. Here he was joined by Muzaffar Jang at the head of 30,000. Chanda Sahib, who was by far the abler character of the two, resolved, so soon as he should be joined by his French auxiliaries, to march upon Arkat. A victory here would place the resources of the Karnatik at his disposal, and bring him into close association with the French. He could then make it, with every prospect of success, the basis from which to operate against Nasir Jang. Towards the end of July the French force already in- dicated, under the command of M. d'Auteuil, and accom- panied by the son of Chanda Sahib, joined the latter at the Damalchen Pass, which he had taken care to secure. Here they received information that Anwaru-dm and his two sons, at the head of 20,000 picked troops, in- cluding among them 60 European adventurers, had taken post at Ambur, about thirty miles to the south, prepared to give them battle. Thither accordingly they marched. The position taken up at Ambur was ex- tremely strong, being defended on one flank by a mountain surmounted by a castle, and on the other by a large lake. The ground between these, constituting naturally a very strong pass into the Karnatik, had been further fortified by intrenchments. These were defended by guns served by the Europeans to whom we have alluded. Behind these was the main army of the Nawwab. It was on the morning of August 3 that the com- bined armies of Chanda Sahib and M. d'Auteuil came in sight of this position. It was at once resolved to storm it, and d'Auteuil offered to lead the attack with