René-Marie Madec
French military officer (1736-1784)
René-Marie Madec (February 7, 1736 – 1784), called Medoc in Anglo-Indian writings, was a French adventurer in India.
Madec was born at Quimper in Brittany to poor parents.
Aged twelve, he embarked as ship's boy on a boat from Lorient heading for the island of Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic). From there, he embarked for Pondichéry, a French trading post in India. Madec lived there for about twenty five years, sometimes a French corsair, sometimes a British corsair. He became a soldier under Joseph François Dupleix and sergeant under Lally-Tollendal. Being taken prisoner by the British, he enlisted in the Bengal army. Deserting with some of his companions shortly before the Battle of Buxar (1764), he became military instructor to various native princes, organizing successively the forces of Shuja-ud-Dowlah the Nawab of Oudh, and of the Jats and Rohillas.
In 1772 he took service under the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, who gave him the title of Nawab, reserved to the highest dignitaries of the Sultan's court. When that prince was defeated at Delhi by the Marathas, Madec rejoined his own countrymen in Puducherry, where he took an active part in the defence of the town (1778).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “René-Marie Madec” as french military officer (1736-1784). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as french military officer (1736-1784). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 21, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q3426581. VIAF identifies the subject as 57992358. The Library of Congress control number is n83137604. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1736, 1784, 1764 and 1772.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “René-Marie Madec”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow René-Marie Madec primary sources, René-Marie Madec archive and René-Marie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “René-Marie Madec”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “René-Marie Madec” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.