Page:History of the French in India.djvu/96

 74 THE RISE OF THE FRENCH POAVER IN INDIA. chap. But the intimacy with Dost Ali was productive of IIr * more important results. Dost Ali had two sons, of whom 1730. the elder was Safdar Ali, and several daughters, one of whom was married to his nephew, Murtiza Ali, and another to a more distant relation, Chanda Sahib. Of these Safdar Ali, whilst he did not altogether share his father's liking for the French, had a very great respect for their power, and especially for the fortifications of Ponclichery ; Chanda Sahib, on the other hand, carried his admiration for the foreigners to a very high pitch. Alone, perhaps, amongst his countrymen, he understood them. Born himself without wealth, but possessing great capacity, considerable energy, and unbounded ambition ; brought, moreover, by his marriage with the daughter of Dost Ali, into a position, in which, whilst he dared openly aspire to nothing, he might secretly hope for almost anything ; yet possessing but a small personal following, and being ever in the presence of relatives whose claims and whose power were superior, and whose ambition was equal to his own ; he had been for a long time sensible that he must look for support beyond the circle of his own family. The position of the French had early attracted him. He appears even then to have detected their latent desire to increase their territory. It is certain, at all events, that he took the first opportunity to proffer his aid to bring fresh lands under their rule. That he did this with the view to obtain for himself French support is scarcely to be doubted. Ever since his connexion with Dost Ali, he, of all the native allies of M. Dumas, had been the most frequent visitor at Pondichery, and had attracted, more than any other, the personal regards of the high officials in that city. It had happened that at the end of the year 1735, the Hindu Raja of Trichinapalli had died without issue. A contest for power immediately arose between his widow, the Rani, and a relation of the deceased prince.