French East India Company
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French and other European settlements in India. |
The
French East India Company (
French:
La Compagnie française des Indes orientales or
Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a commercial enterprise, founded in
1664 to compete with the
British and
Dutch East India companies.
Planned by
Jean Baptiste Colbert, it was chartered by King
Louis XIV for the purpose of trading in the Eastern Hemisphere. The first Director General for the Company was
François Caron, who had spent 30 years working for the
Dutch East India Company, including 20 years in
Japan.
The Company failed to found a
colony on
Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's
Réunion and
Mauritius). By 1719, it had established itself in
India but was near
bankruptcy. In the same year it was combined under
John Law with other French trading companies to form the
Compagnie Perpétuelle des Indes. It resumed independence in 1723.
With the decline of the
Mogul Empire, the French decided to intervene in Indian political affairs to protect their interests, notably by forging alliances with local rulers in south India. From 1741 the French under
Joseph François Dupleix pursued an aggressive policy against both the Indians and the English until they ultimately were defeated by
Robert Clive.
The Company was not able to maintain itself financially, and it was abolished in
1769, about 20 years before the
French Revolution.
Several Indian trading ports, including
Pondicherry and
Chandernagore, remained under French control until
1949.
* The
British East India Company, founded in
1600* The
Dutch East India Company, founded in
1602* The
Dutch West India Company, founded in
1621* The
Swedish East India Company, founded in
1731*
French colonial empire*
French India*
Lorient
