East–West Street
Labourdonnais Street
Also known as: Rue Labourdonnais
Named after: Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, naval commander who captured Madras in 1746 (1699–1753)
Welcome to Labourdonnais Street, named after the admiral from Saint-Malo who captured Madras for France in September 1746 — the single greatest French military achievement in India. France then traded it back to Britain in exchange for a fortress in Canada. The man who delivered the victory was imprisoned on his return to France. He died four years later, his memoirs still unfinished.
Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1699–1753) grew up in Saint-Malo, assembled a naval squadron largely from his own resources as Governor of Mauritius and Réunion, sailed to the Coromandel Coast in 1746, drove off the British fleet, and took Madras. Fort St George fell. The most important British settlement on this coast was in French hands. Every Indian ruler watching the Franco-British contest took notice. It was the moment France came closest to deciding the future of South Asia.
What followed destroyed the man and the victory together. La Bourdonnais had promised the British garrison lenient terms: a ransom, civilian parole, a French withdrawal before the northeast monsoon closed the anchorage. Dupleix wanted to keep Madras permanently. The quarrel between them was furious and public. La Bourdonnais sailed home. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) returned Madras to Britain anyway, traded for Louisbourg in Canada. The largest decision was made in Paris, not on this coast.
On his return, La Bourdonnais found enemies waiting. He was imprisoned in the Bastille in late 1746 on charges connected to the Madras dispute. Two years of imprisonment destroyed his health. He was acquitted in 1748, spent his remaining years writing his memoirs, a vigorous defence of his conduct, and died in Paris in 1753, aged fifty-four, unrecognised and uncompensated. His name is on a street here, and on the town of Mahé on the Kerala coast, and on the largest island of the Seychelles.
Notable on this street
- He captured Madras in September 1746 — the greatest French military victory in India. France gave it back two years later for a Canadian fortress.
- He was imprisoned in the Bastille on return. Acquitted 1748. His health never recovered. He died aged fifty-four, memoirs unfinished.
- His name is also on Mahé (Mayyazhi) on the Kerala coast, still part of the Union Territory of Pondicherry today. And on the largest island of the Seychelles.
- The man who delivered France its only realistic chance at Indian dominance was destroyed by it. The street that carries his name is five minutes from the sea he sailed.
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