The South Asian Theatre

The South Asian Theatre is the name given to a series of conflicts between the coalition of Britain, Dutch Republic, France versus Spain and its allies during the height of the First Anglo-Spanish War. As the name suggests, these conflicts took place primarily in Southern Asia, with significant battles and skirmishes on the Malay Peninsula, the Spanish Philippines, Indochina, Borneo, the Dutch East Indies, and to a lesser extent, the Indian subcontinent. The South Asian Theatre was centred around the Spanish's attempts to capture the British Straits Settlements, most notably Singapore.

Though it is difficult to pinpoint exact dates as to when the South Asian Theatre began, the conflicts most likely began in mid June of 1744, and lasted until the war itself concluded, in November of 1744.

Background
In the Council of Liria (June 1, 1744) Jeremiah Garland, then an executive officer of the British East India Company, was granted full governorship of the fledgling British Far East colony of Singapore, by King George II himself. Also as a result of the Council of Liria, it was imminent that war between Britain and Spain was on the rise, and less than two weeks after the council, King Philip V of Spain declared war on Great Britan and their allies. Garland, along with a fellow company officer, a young Irish marine named Jonathan O'Reilly, were granted permission by the British War Department to charter a new military organisation, as an integral part of the East India Company, called the EITC First Division.

As the First Anglo-Spanish War waged on in the Caribbean waters, growing concerns focused on Spanish and Portuguese colonies in southern Asia, and the possibilities of an attack on British colonies. The EITC First Division, led by Garland and O'Reilly, was immediately reassigned to Singapore, of which Garland had just been declared the governor.

Once there, Garland and O'Reilly had discovered that combined Spanish and Portuguese forces, primarily under the command of Spanish General León Andrés de Saravia, had engaged in subtle conflicts with Britain's allies, namely the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of France. However, Spanish and Portuguese attentions soon turned to the British, and their primary port of Singapore, as well as several other settlements in Malacca and the Malay Peninsula.