At a period when Europe witnessed an upsurge in discoveries and  colonization, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English were on their mission for contacts with India . France who competed with England in many respects also took to installing trade contacts with India and the east. In 1611 Louis XII granted monopoly to a company to pursue their quest, but did not achieve any progress. In 1664 Louis XIV granted another permission to start trade with India. The trade with India was a matter of prestige as the European politics was dominated by rivalries in the eighteenth century. In India Anglo French conflict started with the Austrian war of succession which ended in the seven years war. Pondicherry was the hub of French settlements. Other French factories and settlements were at Masulipatanam, Karikal, Mahi, Surat and Chandernagore. The struggle for establishing supremacy in trade resulted in wars between the English and the French in the Deccan. The first Carnatic war was fought between 1746-48. The second Carnatic war was fought between 1748-54 and the third Carnatic war was between 1758-63. This was the war that sealed the fateof the French possessions in India. Owing to Commercial superiority and better financial position, private ownership of the English company and support by the British government, the East India Company flourished in India. Superiority of the English officers, besides this the French continental preoccupations, the superior English navy and the impact of English domination in Bengal, the recall of Duplex and the blunders of Count de Lally contributed to the French failure in India. Thus the struggle for colonial supremacy resulted the English having overcome the European obstacle. Little did then one realize that this was the beginning of a diplomatic policy that would reign supreme in India for the next two centuries.