Now known as the Dhyana Ashram and dedicated to Our Lady of Guidance, the church of Madre de deus on Mada Church Road in San Thome is one of the oldest of its kind in the city, having been built before 1606. When San Thome prospered and was a fortified city in the 16th and 17th centuries, this shrine was hugely venerated, though it always stood outside the walls of the Portuguese Town. The area was known by the lovely name of Kuil Thoppu, the grove of the cuckoo, and the compound of the church even now retains some extensive foliage.
The structure has lost its heritage thanks to ill-advised modernisation and what remains of interest are two gates, opening to the east and north respectively. A combination of pilasters, cornices and jar-shaped finials topped by a cross, are reminiscent of Mylapore’s Luz Church and San Thome’s St Rita’s Church. The north gate is of greater significance, for on top of it is inscribed the year of construction — 1748. If this is true, the church becomes one of the very few, if not the only structure, that dates to the period of three years when Madras and its environs were ruled by France.
The French were not strangers to San Thome. In 1672, Admiral de la Haye occupied the place. He was to retain control of it till August 24, 1674, when a blockade by the Golconda forces, aided by the Dutch, starved him and his army to surrender. In September 1746, the French reappeared, led this time by La Bourdonnais. Having taken San Thome with ease, they marched upon Fort St George. The British capitulated almost at once.
There followed an unseemly fight between La Bourdonnais and the French Governor General, M Dupleix, over what needed to be done with Madras. The former left for France in disgust, leaving behind 1200 men. The Nawab of Arcot tried to intervene on behalf of the British, only to have his forces beaten. Dupleix was now the master. He spelt out the terms of surrender. The English could leave with what “they stood up in, and could take with them the jewels of their women.” Some had fled already and among them was Robert Clive, “disguised in the habit of a Dubosh (native interpreter) and black’d”. There is also a version that he escaped in drag.
For three years, the British remained holed up in Cuddalore. Following the treaty of Aix-Le-Chapelle in 1748, Madras was restored to them a year later. The French marched out and could never take the city again, though they did attempt this in the 1750s.
What if they had stayed? Would the course of Indian history have been different, with a French and not a British Empire? Standing at this gate, a number of interesting possibilities arise in the mind. What is certain is that this article would have been in French, n’est ce pas?
