<Ul> <Li> Italy </Li> <Li> Sea battles </Li> <Li> North America </Li> <Li> Jacobite rising of 1745 </Li> <Li> South Asia </Li> </Ul> <Li> Jacobite rising of 1745 </Li> <P> The First Carnatic War (1746--1748) was the Indian theatre of the War of the Austrian Succession and the first of a series of Carnatic Wars that established early British dominance on the east coast of the Indian subcontinent . In this conflict the British and French East India Companies vied with each other on land for control of their respective trading posts at Madras, Pondicherry, and Cuddalore, while naval forces of France and Britain engaged each other off the coast . The war set the stage for the rapid growth of French hegemony in southern India under the command of French Governor - General Joseph François Dupleix in the Second Carnatic War . </P> <P> In 1720 France effectively nationalised the French East India Company, and began using it to expand its imperial interests . This became a source of conflict with the British in India with the entry of Britain into the War of the Austrian Succession in 1744 . Hostilities in India began with a British naval attack on a French fleet in 1745, which led the French Governor - General Dupleix to request additional forces . This resulted in the despatch of a fleet under La Bourdonnais that arrived in 1746 . In July of that year La Bourdonnais and British Admiral Edward Peyton fought an indecisive action off Negapatam, after which La Bourdonnais put in at Pondicherry for repairs and strategising with Dupleix . The fleets met again on 19 August, but Peyton refused battle, recognising that La Bourdonnais had acquired additional guns at Pondicherry, and retreated to Bengal . On 4 September 1746, La Bourdonnais led an attack on Madras . After several days of bombardment the British surrendered and the French entered the city . The British leadership was taken prisoner and sent to Pondicherry . It was originally agreed that the town would be restored to the British after negotiation but this was opposed by Dupleix, who sought to annex Madras to French holdings . The remaining British residents were asked to take an oath promising not to take up arms against the French; a handful refused, among them a young Robert Clive, and were kept under weak guard as the French prepared to destroy the fort . Disguising themselves as natives, Clive and three others eluded their inattentive sentry, slipped out of the fort, and made their way to Fort St. David (the British post at Cuddalore), some 50 miles (80 km) to the south . Dupleix, in the meantime, had before the assault promised to turn over Fort St. George to the Nawab of the Carnatic Anwaruddin Khan, but refused to do so . </P>

What was the reason for first carnatic war
find me the text answering this question