is dominions in 1736,
was conquered by the Mahrattas; and in 1743 Hyder Ali of Mysore overran
and ravaged the central Carnatic. The latter was reconquered by the
British, to whom Madura had fallen in 1758; and, finally, in 1801 all
the possessions of the nawab of the Carnatic were transferred to them by
a treaty which stipulated that an annual revenue of several lakhs of
pagodas should be reserved to the nawab, and that the British should
undertake to support a sufficient civil and military force for the
protection of the country and the collection of the revenue. On the
death of the nawab in 1853 it was determined to put an end to the
nominal sovereignty, a liberal establishment being provided for the
family.

The southern Carnatic, when it came into the possession of the British,
was occupied by military chieftains called poligars, who ruled over the
country, and held lands by doubtful tenures. They were unquestionably a
disorderly race; and the country, by their incessant feuds and
plunderings, was one continued scene of strife and violence. Under
British rule they were reduced to order, and their forts and military
establishments were destroyed.

See INDIA: _History_. For the various applications of the name
Carnatic see the _Imperial Gazetteer of India_ (Oxford, 1908), _s.v._;
for the results of the latest researches in the early history of the
country see V.A. Smith, _Early History of India_ (2nd ed., Oxford,
1908), and Robert Sewell, _A Forgotten Empire_ (Vijayanagar), (London,
1900).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As a geographical term, Carnatic is not now applied to the
district north of Pennar.

[2] The Pallavas are supposed by some authorities to be identical
with the Pahlavas (Parthians of Persia), who, with the Sakas and
Yayanas, settled in western India about A.D. 100. Mr Vincent Smith,
however, who in the 1st edition (1904) of his _Early History of
India_ maintained this view, says in the 2nd edition (1908, p. 423)
that "recent research does not support this hypothesis," and that "it
seems more likely that the Pallavas were a tribe, clan or caste which
was formed in the northern part of the existing Madras Presidency."
The evidence points to their having been a race distinct from the
Tamils.

CARNATION (_Dianthus Caryophyllus_, natural order Caryophyllaceae), a
garden flower, a native of southern Europe, but occasionally found in an
apparently wi