gh the
Portuguese were not turned out of San Thome, it was now a part of the
Moghul Empire, and was put in charge of a Moslem ruler. After
Aurangzeb's death, the Moghul Empire broke up, and the Nawab of Arcot
eventually became independent, and San Thome was part of his
dominions. In 1749, when Madras, after the French occupation, was
restored to the English by an order from Paris, in accordance with the
treaty of Aix la Chapelle, Dupleix at Pondicherry was bitterly
disappointed at the rendition, and he formed designs for the
acquisition of San Thome for France, as a set-off for the loss of
Madras. The English at Fort St. George had information of his schemes,
and, being in no way desirous of having aggressive Frenchmen for close
neighbours, they forestalled Dupleix by persuading the Nawab to make
the Company a grant of 'Mylapore, _alias_ St. Thome,' on condition
that the Company should undertake to help the Nawab with men and
money whenever he should call upon them to do so. It was thus that San
Thome became a British possession; and, although it was afterwards
ravaged successively by the French under Count Lally and by Haidar Ali
of Mysore, it has remained a British possession ever since.

We have said enough to show the manner in which the different parts of
the modern city of Madras came into the hands of the English. The
methods were not always wholly admirable; but we must remember that
the East India Company was a mercantile association, fighting for its
existence under diamond-cut-diamond conditions; and we must remember
also that, although its representatives at Madras were sent out to
India not to rule but to earn dividends for the shareholders, yet the
Company's rule over Madras was so upright that crowds of people were
continually flocking into Madras to enjoy its benefits.

CHAPTER VII

OUTPOSTS

The suburban lands which were successively granted to the Company were
not protected either by the walls of Fort St. George or by the walls
of Black Town, and it was accordingly necessary that special means
should be adopted for their defence. The Company's military engineers
devised the erection of small suburban forts ('redoubts'),
block-houses, and batteries, which were to be mounted with cannon and
to be in charge of an appropriate garrison, and were to serve as
outposts for the protection of the outlying quarters of the city.

On the northern side of Black Town the batteries and block-houses were