He displayed great business aptitude, and in addition to his official duties made large ventures on his own account, acquiring a fortune.

[1] He built an army of native troops, called sepoys, who were trained as infantry men in his service and also included the famous Hyder Ali of Mysore.

[citation needed] From 1751, Dupleix tried to expand French influence in Burma by sending the envoy Sieur de Bruno, and by providing military assistance the Mon in their conflict with the Burmese.

[4] In 1754 the French government, anxious to make peace, sent out to India a special commissioner with orders to supersede Dupleix and, if necessary, to arrest him.

These orders were carried out harshly, what survived of Dupleix's work was ruined at a blow, and he himself was compelled to embark for France on 12 October 1754.

He had spent his private fortune in the prosecution of his public policy, but the company refused to acknowledge the obligation, and the government would do nothing for a man whom they persisted in regarding as an ambitious and greedy adventurer.

In the statue, Dupleix wears Court dress with bag wig and long riding boots; in his right hand is a plan of Puducherry, his left reposing on the hilt of his sword.