By the mid 1700s, the British East India Company and the French East India Company were competing for power in India by supporting rival local rulers. In the Carnatic region, the French backed Chanda Sahib, while the British backed Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah. In 1751 Chanda Sahib was besieging Muhammad Ali at Trichinopoly. To relieve pressure on their ally, British officer Robert Clive proposed attacking Arcot, Chanda Sahib’s capital, hoping this would force the enemy to divert troops. Clive marched from Madras with a small force of about 200 British soldiers and 300 Indian sepoys. When he reached Arcot in September 1751, the defenders abandoned the fort, allowing him to capture it without a fight, but Chanda Sahib’s son Raza Sahib soon arrived with thousands of troops and French support to retake the city. Clive’s small garrison was heavily outnumbered but held the fort for about 50 days. Clive’s small garrison was heavily outnumbered but managed to hold the fort for 50 days. The siege finally lifted on November 1751. The British victory boosted British prestige and local support in southern India, weakened French influence in the Carnatic, and made Robert Clive famous (marking the beginning of his rise as a leading British commander in India).

Depictions of combat during the Siege of Arcot, 1751