Short answers, pulled from the story.
The First Carnatic War began in 1740 as a distant echo of European politics over the succession of the Austrian throne. Its first shots in India were fired by Indian recruits led by French officers rather than European soldiers. This conflict transformed into a struggle for dominance on the Coromandel Coast following the fragmentation of the Mughal Empire after the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707.
Joseph François Dupleix arrived in India in 1715 and became the governor of the French East India Company by 1742. He transformed the company from a trading entity into a territorial power by organizing Indian recruits under French officers. Dupleix threw his support behind Chanda Sahib against Muhammad Ali, turning local succession disputes into a proxy war between the French and British.
The capture of Madras on the 21st of September 1746 marked a turning point in the First Carnatic War. French commander La Bourdonnais had promised to return the city to the British, but Joseph François Dupleix withdrew that promise. The Nawab of Hyderabad, Anwar-ud-din, marched a 10,000-man army to retake the city but was decisively repulsed by a small French force in the Battle of Adyar.
The war ended with the Treaty of Pondicherry, signed in 1754, which recognized Muhammad Ali Khan Walajah as the Nawab of the Carnatic. This conflict demonstrated the growing importance of military strength over diplomatic maneuvering as the British began to assert their dominance through force of arms. Charles Godeheu replaced Dupleix, who died in poverty back in France.
Sir Eyre Coote decisively defeated the French, commanded by the Comte de Lally, at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760. This battle marked the end of French ambitions to establish a territorial empire in India. After Wandiwash, Pondicherry fell to the British in 1761, and the French were reduced to a mere trading presence.
The war concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which returned Chandernagore and Pondicherry to France. The treaty forbade French traders from administering these territories and required them to support British client governments. This outcome ensured that the British East India Company became the dominant foreign power in India.