turn of event made the French officials and the Pouduchery Governor M. Dupliex to forget his misdeeds.
However, the ships that left Madras were caught in the storm and broken into pieces near Kovalam. This has further weakened M. de la Bourdonnais. He wrote to the English Company that they have to pay eleven and half lakhs Varahans and redeem the Madras fort, failing which they would not have any claim on the fort in future.
The French and English armies had subsequent encounters. M. de la Bourdonnais was tried at Paris for his anti-council activities. If the power struggle between M. de la Bourdonnais and M. Dupliex was avoided, M. de la Bourdonnais would have captured Devanampattinam town and thereafter driven out the British people from South India. The history would have changed its course.
The diary of Anandarangam pillai is unique in nature as it contains the social, economic and political information of Tamil Nadu during the eighteenth century. Minute details of customs and habits. of the people are seen in the diary. Incidents of kidnapping of children. and religious conversions without consent are recorded in the diary. Bribery is found to be prevailing everywhere. The army looted innocent people in villages. The people could not live peacefully due to frequent invations. Slavery was also found to exist during the period. Many of the historical incidents mentioned in the diary are not found in any other source. Thus, a Dragoman's diary becomes history - a rare feature in the historical writing.
காகிதச்சுவடி ஆய்வுகள்
431
