This paper deals with the political action of Thomas Saunders, functionary of the East India Company and Governor of Madras during a period of crucial importance for the future of the British presence in India. The author argues that Saunders, generally underestimated by the scholars, actually covered a key role in the Carnatic war and was able to oppose the French hegemonic plans with tenacity and promptness, understanding its dangerousness. Bereft of a well-structured project of conquest and to some degree still tied to the mentality of a trading agent, Saunders can be considered as a transitional figure between the mercantile colonialism and the informal colonialism: convicted that the supremacy strategy which he adopted was only motivated by the Anglo-Franco-Indian war and to give up at the end of the contest, the Governor of Madras could not go as far as Robert Clive, the famous conqueror of Bengal.
Keywords: India, Saunders, colonialism, Carnatic wars, East India Company, Anglo- French Rivalry