Franco-Indian Alliances

Later, numerous proposals of alliance were made by Tipu Sultan, leading to the dispatch of a French fleet of volunteers to help him, and even motivating an effort by Napoleon to make a junction with the Kingdom of Mysore through his 1798 campaign in Egypt.

The French General Dupleix was allied to Murzapha Jung in the Deccan, and Chanda Sahib in the Carnatic Wars, in their conflict against Robert Clive of the East India Company.

[2] French had lost preeminence in India with the Treaty of Paris in 1763, although five trading posts were being maintained there, leaving opportunities for disputes and power-play with Great Britain.

Following the 1783 Treaty of Versailles and the removal of French support, Tipu Sultan, the son of Hyder Ali, was unable to recapture Mangalore from the British, although he later managed to regain control after a 10-month siege in 1784.

[18] French soldiers, mobilized by François Ripaud in 1797 to support Tipu Sultan, were buried in a cemetery at Harohalli, which has fallen into disrepair as the locals steal iron grills, bricks, metal plaques, and expensive marble.

[24] Napoleon Bonaparte, who wished to establish a French presence in the Middle East, took the opportunity of his campaign in Egypt to plan a junction with Tipu against the British.

[28] Napoleon was defeated by a combined Ottoman-British force at the Siege of Acre in 1799, and at the Battle of Abukir in 1801, so that by 1802, France's presence was completely rolled back from the Middle-East.

[30] Napoleon sent General Horace Sebastiani as envoy extraordinary, promising to help the Ottoman Empire recover lost territories.

[32] Napoleon's interest in the Middle East and India waned when he finally vanquished Russia at the Battle of Friedland in July 1807, leading to the Treaty of Tilsit, in December 1807.