1750 - Political Events

Political Events

Portugal's João V dies at his native Lisbon July 31 at age 61 after a 44-year reign and is succeeded by his 35-year-old son, who will reign until 1777 as José Manuel. The new king appoints Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, 51, marques de Pombal, as his chief minister, and Pombal strips the Inquisition of its powers.

Memorandum Concerning the Usefulness of the Provincial Estates . . . (Mémoire concernant l'utilité des états provinciaux . . .) by French political economist Victor Riqueti, 34, marquis de Mirabeau, is an attack on the highly centralized governmental system established by Louis XIV; Mirabeau proposes that the provincial assemblies that exist in a small part of the country be established throughout the realm.

France's marshal general Maurice, comte de Saxe, dies at his château at Chambord November 30 at age 54, having led his country's armies to victory in the War of the Austrian Succession.

The Zand dynasty that will rule central and southern Persia until 1779 comes to power as Mohammad Karim Khan Zand gains supremacy (see 1794).

The Mughal vizier Safdar Jang joins the Marathas of northwest India in trying to plunder the empire of the ineffectual emperor (see 1748). The vizier has been defeated by Afghans of the Doab (see 1754; Lahore, 1752).

Ojibwe (Chippewa) tribesmen defeat Sioux at the Battle of Kathio and gain undisputed possession of wild rice stands in the lakes of northern Minnesota.