He took part in the Mahratta wars, serving in the final campaign as a political officer under Sir John Malcolm, whom he had previously accompanied on his mission to Persia in 1810.

He was one of Mountstuart Elphinstone's assistants in the Dekhan, subsequently served in Khandesh, and succeeded Captain Grant Duff as resident at Sattára.

His appointment to this office, which was made by the governor-general Lord William Bentinck, was not agreeable to the government of Madras, and after a stormy tenure which lasted around a year, Briggs resigned his post in September 1832.

[1] After his return to England he took a prominent part as a member of the court of directors of the East India Company in the discussion of Indian affairs, and was an opponent of Lord Dalhousie's annexation policy.

In 1836, he wrote an essay length tract advocating the professional training of the Indian Officer class of the East India Company's armies.