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History of Puducherry

2021-06-30T21:08:16Z

2001:630:21:9DF6:1995:36D1:A576:E6CC:

{{Short description|Aspect of history}}
{{see also|French India|Colonial History of Yanam}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2020}}
[[File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|Puducherry was mentioned in the [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]], 1st century CE.]]
The City of [[Pondicherry|Puducherry]] on the southeast coast of India does not have a recorded history from antiquity. Puducherry has history recorded only after the advent of the [[colonialism|colonial powers]] such as the Dutch, Portuguese, English and the French. Nearby places such as Arikanmedu (Now Ariyankuppam), Kakayanthoppe, Villianur, and Bahur, which were annexed by the [[French East India Company]] over a period of time and became the Union Territory of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] after Independence, have written histories that predate the colonial era.

==Early period==
[[File:SouttoukenyJewelry2ndCenturyBCE.jpg|thumb|Vishva jewellery from [[Suttukeni]], Puducherry, 2nd century BC. [[Musee Guimet]].]]
[[File:ChildWithBirdVirampatnamArikamedu1-2Century.jpg|thumb|Child with bird, a classical Greco-Roman motif, Virampatnam, Arikamedu, 1st-2nd century. [[Musee Guimet]].]]
The [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]], of the 1st century, mentions a marketplace named Poduke or Poduca (ch. 60). [[G.W.B. Huntingford]] identified this as possibly being [[Arikamedu]] (now part of [[Ariyankuppam]]), located about {{convert|2|mi|km}} from the modern city of [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]]. Puducherry was apparently an important destination for [[Roman trade with India]]. Huntingford further notes that Roman pottery was found at Arikamedu in 1937. In addition, [[archeology|archaeological]] excavations between 1944 and 1949 showed that it was "a trading station to which goods of Roman manufacture were imported during the first half of the 1st century AD".<ref>''The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'', transl. G.W.B. Huntingford (Hakluyt Society, 1980), p. 119.</ref>

At the beginning of the 4th century AD, the Puducherry area was part of the [[Pallava]] Kingdom of [[Kanchipuram]]. During the following centuries different southern dynasties controlled Puducherry: in the 10th century AD. the [[Chola]] of [[Thanjavur]] took over, only to be replaced by the [[Pandya]] Kingdom in the 13th century. After a brief invasion by the Muslim rulers of the North, who established the Sultanate of [[Madurai]], the [[Vijayanagara Empire|Vijayanagar]] Empire took control of almost all the South of India, with their power lasting until 1638, when the [[Sultan of Bijapur]] began to rule over [[Gingee]].{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

==European period==
{{further|French India}}
[[File:Bellin's plan of Pondicherry, a copperplate engraving.jpg|thumb|Bellin's plan of Pondicherry, a copperplate engraving]]
In 1674 the ''[[French East India Company]]'' set up a trading centre at [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]]. This outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India.

Dutch and British trading companies also wanted trade with India. Wars raged among these European countries and spilled over into the Indian subcontinent. The Dutch captured Puducherry in 1693 but returned it to France by the [[Treaty of Ryswick]] in 1699.

The French acquired Mahe in the 1720s, Yanam in 1731, and Karaikal in 1738. During the Anglo-French wars (1742–1763), Puducherry changed hands frequently. On 16 January 1761, the [[United Kingdom|British]] captured Puducherry from the [[France|French]], but the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] at the conclusion of the [[Seven Years' War]] returned it.<ref>Chand, Hukam. ''History Of Medieval India'', 202.</ref>

In 1792, Venant of Durfort, son of the Count of Civrac, was made governor of Pondicherry, thanks to his uncle Emmanuel-Félicité, Duke of Duras, who had been made president of the compagnie des Indes in 1788. After an outstanding military career in Europe, Venant fought hard to destroy all revolutionary hopes in Pondicherry, as republican ideals coming from France were threatening the economic stability of the region. He took great care to maintain commercial relations with other European powers in the region. His links with England were strengthened through his marriage with Catherine Browne of Kilmor. Venant died in July 1792 and was buried at Our Lady of Angels in Pondicherry.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Durand |first1=Yves |title=La Maison de Durfort a l'Epoque Moderne |date=1975 |page=261}}</ref>

The British took control of the area again in 1793 at the [[Siege of Pondicherry (1793)|Siege of Pondicherry]] amid the Wars of the [[French Revolution]], and returned it to France in 1814. When the British gained control of the whole of India in the late 1850s, they allowed the French to retain their settlements in the country. [[Pondicherry district|Pondicherry]], [[Mahé, India|Mahe]], [[Yanam]], [[Karaikal]] and [[Chandernagar]] remained a part of [[French India]] until 1954.
=== The end of French rule ===
The independence of India in 1947 gave impetus to the union of France's Indian possessions with former [[British Raj|British India]]. An agreement between France and India in 1948 stipulated that the inhabitants of France's Indian possessions would choose their political future. The ''de jure'' union of French India with the Indian Union did not take place until 1962. On a ''de facto'' basis, the bureaucracy had been united with India's on 1 November 1954. It was organized as a Union Territory in 1963. Puducherry is now a part of India.

==Separation from France==

===Cession of Pondicherry and Karaikal===
From the time India gained its independence from British rule in 1947, it
raised the issue of the French settlements on the continent with the Government of France. It took seven years for Puducherry to effectively unite with independent India. Political agitation to achieve this goal began earlier.

In 1787 and 1791, farmers of Karaikal agitated against the heavy land tax imposed by the French. The [[rebellion of 1857]] had an effect in the French settlements but it did not attract the attention of the rulers, as the incidents were few and considered as local. People employed legal means to fight against the French. In 1873, an advocate, Ponnuthammbi Pillai, convinced a Paris court of his cause. He won the case in which he was fined by a French magistrate in [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]] for walking into the court with footwear.

Student protests in 1927 and 1930 expressed their desire for an end of French oversight. Leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Bal Gangadhar Tilak visited Pondicherry and its other enclaves and addressed the meetings. In 1934, ''Swatantram'', a monthly, was started by veteran independence activist and trade union leader [[V. Subbiah]] for the cause of workers and the country.

Police control, which warranted trade union unrest, further increased civilian agitation against the colonial government. In the late 1930, grassroots organizations known as [[mahajana sabha]]s were started in Pondicherry and Karaikal. These groups, along with trade unions, organized the Non-Cooperation Movement. During the [[Second World War]], Puducherry supported France with men and [[materiel]]. Deaths among French-Indian soldiers caused unrest in the enclaves.

In 1946, the French India Congress was formed with the objective of integrating the French possessions with India. Later the following year, the French India Students Congress adopted a resolution on merger. In January 1948, the French People's Convention passed a resolution expressing its determination to merge the French possessions with India. The Communist Party asked the people to accept only the merger.

The post-independence government under Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] was anxious to integrate the French Indian territories with the country. [[Jerome D'Souza|Fr. Jerome D'Souza]] - a member of the [[Constituent Assembly of India]] - was appointed by the Government of India to negotiate with the French authorities in Pondicherry. As a result of these negotiations, the French agreed to hold a referendum in their territories regarding the political status of the French territories in India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Annoussamy|first=David|title=L'intermède français en Inde : Secousses politiques et mutations juridiques|publisher=L'HARMATTAN|year=2005|isbn=978-2747572088|location=France|pages=142}}</ref> However, sensing that the result of the referendum may not be in favor of merger with India, the Government of India withdrew support for the referendum.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Annoussamy|first=David|title=L'intermède français en Inde : Secousses politiques et mutations juridiques|publisher=L'HARMATTAN|year=2005|isbn=978-2747572088|location=France|pages=152}}</ref> The [[Congress Party (India)|Congress Party]] issued a declaration that the people of Pondicherry were not interested in the referendum for various reasons.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bascarane|first=S., Dr.|title=Nationalism in French India|url=https://police.py.gov.in/Nationalism%20in%20French%20India.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=24 Feb 2021|website=Government of Puducherry - Puducherry Police}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nath Sen|first=Sailendra|title=Chandernagore: From Bondage to Freedom 1900-1955|publisher=PRIMUS BOOKS|year=2012|isbn=978-9380607238|location=New Delhi, India|pages=81}}</ref> India signed an agreement with France in June 1948 which gave power to the people to determine the political status of their land. Accordingly, municipal elections in Pondicherry, Karaikal and Yanam were held in October 1948. All municipalities except one elected representatives of the French India Socialist Party, a pro-French group. The new councillors at a meeting accepted the autonomy offered by the French Government.

The Indian Government continued to press for unification, pledging a distinct status and help for Puducherry after its merger with India.

As the unification movement gathered momentum under Subbiah, the pro-French leader [[Edouard Goubert]] switched his loyalty to the pro-merger camp. This movement was coordinated by many leaders like D.K.Ramanujam and Mr. Chandrasekara Reddiar. A momentous event in the freedom movement of Puducherry occurred on 18 March 1954, when the members of the executive council and mayors of Pondicherry and seven adjoining communes proclaimed their decision to merge with India without a referendum. All the communes in Karaikal also followed suit. This decision was to be confirmed by the Representative Assembly. When the Socialist Party was preparing to move the merger resolution, the French governor scuttled it by postponing the session. Provoked by this, the Socialists planned to capture the outlying communes one by one and move to Pondicherry. The Communist Party was also ready to launch a campaign of direct action to merge Puducherry with India. Accordingly, the leaders of the Socialist Party hoisted the Indian national flag atop the Nettapakkam police station on the last day of March in 1954. Subsequently, many villages in Mannadipet and Bahour communes came under the sway of the pro-merger forces. In the Karaikal region, all the communes and Karaikal municipality passed a resolution in favour of merger. The National Youth Congress began a Satyagraha. An independence activists' procession was charged by police using [[lathi charge|lathi]] and the flags carried by the processionists were seized and torn by the French Indian Police.Mr. Chandrasekara Reddiar and D.K. Ramanujam were arrested.<ref>{{Cite book|last=V Subbiah|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201624|title=Saga Of Freedom Of French India Testament Of My Life|date=1990}}</ref>

India and France, following talks, issued a joint statement on 13 October 1954 announcing a procedure for deciding the status of the French settlements. Five days later, on 18 October 1954 the elected members of the Representative Assembly and the municipal councillors of Pondicherry and Karaikkal took part in a referendum at [[Kizhoor, Puducherry|Kizhur]]. Of the 178 members voting, an overwhelming majority of 170 members favoured the merger of French Indian territories with the Republic of India. Three days later, an agreement on the ''de facto'' transfer of the French territories to India was signed in New Delhi between the two countries.

A treaty of cession was signed by the two countries in May 1956. It was ratified by the French parliament in May 1962. On 16 August 1962 India and France exchanged the instruments of ratification under which France ceded to India full sovereignty over the territories it held. Pondicherry and the other enclaves of Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam came to be administered as the Union Territory of Puducherry from 1 July 1963.

===Cession of Chandernagore===
{{See also|Chandannagar}}
Under the Indo-French Agreement of June 1948, the first municipal elections were held in [[Chandannagar|Chandernagore]] in August, elections in which the Congress Karmaparishad won 22 of the 24 seats. The new municipal assembly overwhelmingly voted for merger with the Indian Union but it took until 9 June 1952 before the Government of India took control. Later, in 1954, Chandernagore became part of the Hoogly district of West Bengal.

===Cession of Yanam===
{{main|Coup d'État de Yanaon}}
Conditions became intolerable in Yanam after its mayor and other representatives of Yanam adopted the merger resolution. The mayor, deputy mayor, and over 200 people took refuge in the adjacent areas of the Indian Union. Police and hired [[vigilantes]] from Yanam assaulted refugees on Indian soil. The refugees marched into Yanam under the leadership of [[Dadala Raphael Ramanayya]] and took over the administration. After hoisting the Indian National Flag, they adopted a resolution declaring Yanam "liberated".

===Cession of Mahe===
Close on their heels in Yanam, in Mahe, the Mahajana sabha under its president, I.K. Kumaran began a picketing programme. Some days later, hundreds of volunteers marched into Mahe to stage a demonstration in front of the administrator's residence. They were joined by citizens of the enclave. On 16 July 1954, Kumaran took over the administration from the French administrator marking the end of 224 years of French rule in Mahe.

===Date of Events===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ [[Inde française|French India]]
! Colony
! Liberation
! de facto transfer
! Treaty of Cession
! de jure transfer
! Merger
|-
| [[Chandannagar|Chandernagore]]
|
| 26 June 1949
| 28 February 1951
| 9 June 1952
| 1 October 1954
|-
| [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]]
|
| 1 November 1954
| 28 May 1956
| 16 August 1962
| 1 July 1963
|-
| [[Karikal]]
|
| 1 November 1954
| 28 May 1956
| 16 August 1962
| 1 July 1963
|-
| [[Yanam]]
| 13 June 1954
| 1 November 1954
| 28 May 1956
| 16 August 1962
| 1 July 1963
|-
| [[Mahé, India|Mahé]]
| 16 June 1954
| 1 November 1954
| 28 May 1956
| 16 August 1962
| 1 July 1963
|}

==List of French Governors in India==
'''[[Commissioners|Commissaires]]''':
* [[François Caron]], 1668–1672
* François Baron, 1672–1681
* [[François Martin (Pondicherry)|François Martin]], 1681 – November 1693
* '''Dutch occupation''', September 1693 - September 1699 <-- '''[[Treaty of Ryswick]]''' (1697)
[[File:Pondicherry Dupliex.jpg|thumb|Monument to Joseph François Dupleix in Puducherry]]
'''[[Governor General|Gouverneurs Généraux]]''':
* [[François Martin (Pondicherry)|François Martin]], September 1699 - 31 December 1706
* [[Pierre Dulivier]], January 1707-July 1708
* [[Guillaume André d'Hébert]], 1708–1712
* [[Pierre Dulivier]], 1712–1717
* [[Guillaume André d'Hébert]], 1717–1718
* [[Pierre André Prévost de La Prévostière]], August 1718 – 11 October 1721
* [[Pierre Christoph Le Noir]] (Acting), 1721–1723
* [[Joseph Beauvollier|Joseph Beauvollier de Courchant]], 1723–1726
* [[Pierre Christoph Le Noir]], 1726–1734
* [[Pierre Benoît Dumas]], 1734–1741
* [[Joseph François Dupleix]], 14 January 1742 – 15 October 1754
* [[Charles Godeheu]], Le commissaire (Acting), 15 October 1754–1754
* [[Georges Duval de Leyrit]], 1754–1758
* [[Lally-Tollendal|Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally-Tollendal]], 1758 – 16 January 1761
* First '''British occupation''', 15 January 1761 – 25 June 1765 <-- '''[[Treaty of Paris (1763)]]'''
* [[Jean Law de Lauriston]], 1765–1766
* [[Antoine Boyellau]], 1766–1767
* [[Jean Law de Lauriston]], 1767 – January 1777
* [[Guillaume de Bellecombe|Guillaume de Bellecombe, seigneur de Teirac]], January 1777–1782
* [[Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau|Charles Joseph Pâtissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau]], 1783–1785
* [[François de Souillac|Le Vicomte, François de Souillac]], 1785
* [[David Charpentier de Cossigny]], October 1785–1787
* [[Thomas Conway|Thomas, comte de Conway]], October 1787–1789
* [[Camille Charles Leclerc, chevalier de Fresne]], 1789–1792
* [[Dominique Prosper de Chermont]], November 1792–1793
* L. [[Leroux de Touffreville]], 1793
* Second '''British occupation''', 23 August 1793 – 18 June 1802 <-- '''[[Treaty of Amiens]]''' (1802)
* [[Comte Decaen|Charles Matthieu Isidore]], Comte Decaen, 18 June 1802 - August 1803
* [[Louis Binot|Louis François Binot]], 1803
* Third '''British occupation''', August 1803 – 26 September 1816 <-- '''[[Treaty of Paris (1814)]]'''
* [[Comte Dupuy|André Julien Comte Dupuy]], 26 September 1816 – October 1825
* [[Joseph Cordier]], Marie Emmanuel (Acting), October 1825 – 19 June 1826
* [[Eugène Desbassayns de Richemont]], 1826 – 2 August 1828
* [[Joseph Cordier]], Marie Emmanuel (Acting), 2 August 1828 – 11 April 1829
* [[Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay]], 11 April 1829 – 3 May 1835
* [[Hubert Jean Victor, Marquis de Saint-Simon]], 3 May 1835 – April 1840
* [[Paul de Nourquer du Camper]], April 1840 - 1844
* [[Louis Pujol]], 1844–1849
* [[Hyacinthe Marie de Lalande de Calan]], 1849–1850
* [[Philippe Achille Bédier]], 1851–1852
* [[Raymond de Saint-Maur]], August 1852 - April 1857
* [[Alexandre Durand d'Ubraye]], April 1857 - January 1863
* [[Napoléon Joseph Louis Bontemps]], January 1863 - June 1871
* [[Antoine-Léonce Michaux]], June 1871 - November 1871
* [[Pierre Aristide Faron]], November 1871 - 1875
* [[Adolph Joseph Antoine Trillard]], 1875–1878
* [[Léonce Laugier]], February 1879 - April 1881
* [[Théodore Drouhet]], 1881 - October 1884
* [[Étienne Richaud]], October 1884 - 1886
* [[Édouard Manès]], 1886–1888
* [[Georges Jules Piquet]], 1888–1889
* [[Louis Hippolyte Marie Nouet]], 1889–1891
* [[Léon Émile Clément-Thomas]], 1891–1896
* [[Louis Jean Girod]], 1896 - February 1898
* [[François Pierre Rodier]], February 1898 - 11 January 1902
* [[Louis Pelletan|Pelletan]] (Acting), 11 January 1902 - 1902
* [[Victor Louis Marie Lanrezac]], 1902–1904
* [[Philema Lemaire]], August 1904 - April 1905
* [[Joseph Pascal François]], April 1905 - October 1906
* [[Gabriel Louis Angoulvant]], October 1906 - 3 December 1907
* [[Adrien Jules Jean Bonhoure]], 1908–1909
* [[Ernest Fernand Lévecque]], 1909 - 9 July 1910
* [[Alfred Albert Martineau]], 9 July 1910 - July 1911
* [[Pierre Louis Alfred Duprat]], July 1911 - November 1913
* [[Alfred Albert Martineau]], November 1913 - 29 June 1918
* (unknown), 29 June 1918 – 21 February 1919
* [[Louis Martial Innocent Gerbinis]], 21 February 1919 – 11 February 1926
* [[Pierre Jean Henri Didelot]], 1926–1928
* [[Robert Paul Marie de Guise]], 1928–1931
* [[François Adrien Juvanon]], 1931–1934
* [[Léon Solomiac]], August 1934 – 1936
* [[Horace Valentin Crocicchia]], 1936–1938
* [[Louis Alexis Étienne Bonvin]], 26 September 1938–1945
* [[Nicolas Ernest Marie Maurice Jeandin]], 1945–1946
* [[Charles François Marie Baron]], 20 March 1946 – 20 August 1947
'''[[Inde française]] became a [[Territoire d'outre-mer]] for France in 1946'''.

'''[[Commissioners|Commissaires]]''':
* [[Charles François Marie Baron]], 20 August 1947 - May 1949
* Charles Chambon, May 1949 - 31 July 1950
* [[André Ménard]], 31 July 1950 - October 1954
* Georges Escargueil, October 1954 - 1 November 1954

'''[[de facto]] transfer to [[Republic of India]]'''

'''[[High Commissioner]]s''':
* Mr. [[Kewal Singh]] 1 November 1954–1957
* M.K. Kripalani 1957–1958
* L.R.S. Singh 1958–1958
* AS Bam 1960
* Sanath Kumar Banerji 1961–1961

==Notes==
<references/>

== Further reading ==
* Michal Wanner, ''[http://praguepapers.ff.cuni.cz/en/magazin/2017-1-2/ Pondicherry in the French Revolution Era 1785–1793: Part 1: Reasons and Beginnings 1785–1791]'', [[Prague Papers on the History of International Relations]], Faculty of Arts Press, Charles University, Prague, 2017, 1, pp. 51–66

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100620213840/http://ifpindia.org/ecrire/upload/digital_database/Site/Pondi/data/part_1.html Pondicherry from the origins to 1824] [[French Institute of Pondicherry]]
*[http://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/5302/Treaty+establishing+De+Jure+Cession+of+French+Establishments+in+India Treaty establishing De Jure Cession of French Establishments in India]
*[https://frenchbooksonindia.com/ Frenchbooksonindia.com, an open access multilingual discovery tool with book data from 1531 to 2020, full-text ebooks from 1531 to 1937 and in-text search from c. 1830 to c. 1920]
{{Former French colonies}}
{{History of India by State}}
{{Puducherry}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Puducherry}}
[[Category:History of Puducherry| ]]

French East India Company

2021-06-30T21:02:12Z

2001:630:21:9DF6:1995:36D1:A576:E6CC:

{{short description|Defunct French trading company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
{{Expand French|date=March 2016}}

{{Infobox company
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| industry = [[Trade]]
| name = French East India Company
| native_name = Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes Orientales
| native_name_lang = fr
| image = Armoiries de la Compagnie des Indes Orientales.jpg
| image_caption = Coat of Arms <br> <br>'''Motto''': ''[[Florebo quocumque ferar]]''<br>[[Latin]] for "I will flourish wherever I will be brought"
| logo = File:Drapeau du régiment de la Compagnie des Indes en 1756.png
| logo_caption = Company flag
| logo_size = 150
| fate = Dissolved and activities absorbed by the French Crown in 1769; reconstituted 1785, bankrupt 1794
| successor = 
| foundation = 1 September 1664
| founder = [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]]
| location = [[Lorient]]
}}
{{Colonial India}}The '''French East India Company''' ({{lang-fr|Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales}}) was a imperial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the [[English East India Company|English]] (later British) and [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] trading companies in the [[East Indies]].

Planned by [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]], it was chartered by King [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] for the purpose of trading in the [[Eastern Hemisphere]]. It resulted from the fusion of three earlier companies, the 1660 [[Compagnie de Chine]], the Compagnie d'Orient and Compagnie de Madagascar. The first Director General for the Company was François de la Faye, who was adjoined by two Directors belonging to the two most successful trading organizations at that time: [[François Caron]], who had spent 30 years working for the [[Dutch East India Company]], including more than 20 years in [[Japan]],<ref>Caron lived in Japan from 1619 to 1641. ''A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English'' By Jozef Rogala, p.31 [https://books.google.com/books?id=29cty-eprmgC&pg=PA31&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Caron+years+Japan&ei=DrbASNjkKJzayATrmPiJDg&sig=ACfU3U22eUcPvD3B42fwRk_cEkMFPpDBpg]</ref> and [[Marcara Avanchintz]], an [[Armenians|Armenian]] trader from [[Isfahan]], [[Persia]].<ref>McCabe, p.104</ref>

==History==
In 1604, French king [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] authorized the first ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'', granting the firm a 15-year monopoly of the Indies trade.<ref name="booneshares.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.booneshares.com/Indes.htm|title=The Compagnie des Indes|year=2001|access-date=2008-03-06|author=Shakespeare, Howard |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071225184121/http://www.booneshares.com/Indes.htm  |archive-date = 2007-12-25}}</ref> This precursor to [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert|Colbert]]'s later ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'', however, was not a joint-stock corporation, and was funded by the Crown.

The initial capital of the revamped ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' was 15 million livres, divided into shares of 1000 livres apiece. [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] funded the first 3 million livres of investment, against which losses in the first 10 years were to be charged.<ref name="booneshares.com"/> The initial stock offering quickly sold out, as courtiers of Louis XIV recognized that it was in their interests to support the King's overseas initiative. The ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' was granted a 50-year monopoly on French trade in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, a region stretching from the [[Cape of Good Hope]] to the [[Strait of Magellan|Straits of Magellan]].<ref name="booneshares.com"/> The French monarch also granted the Company a concession in perpetuity for the island of Madagascar, as well as any other territories it could conquer.

The Company failed to found a successful [[colony]] on [[Madagascar]], but was able to establish 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 the firm was near [[bankruptcy]]. In the same year the ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' was combined under the direction of [[John Law (economist)|John Law]] with other French trading companies to form the ''[[Mississippi Company|Compagnie Perpétuelle des Indes]]''. The reorganized corporation resumed its operating independence in 1723.

With the decline of the [[Mughal 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 British until they ultimately were defeated by [[Robert Clive]]. Several Indian trading ports, including [[Pondicherry district|Pondichéry]] and [[Chandernagore]], remained under French control until 1954.

[[File:French East Indies Cannon de 4 bronze 1755 Douai 84mm 237cm 545kg iron ball 2kg.jpg|thumb|French East India Company [[cannon]] ("Canon de 4"). [[Bronze]], 1755, [[Douai]]. Caliber: 84mm, length: 237cm, weight: 545kg, ammunition: 2kg iron balls.|224x224px]]
The Company was not able to maintain itself financially, and it was abolished in 1769, about 20 years before the [[French Revolution]]. King [[Louis XVI of France|Louis XVI]] issued a 1769 edict that required the Company to transfer to the state all its properties, assets and rights, which were valued at 30 million livres. The King agreed to pay all of the Company's debts and obligations, though holders of Company stock and notes received only an estimated 15 percent of the face value of their investments by the end of corporate liquidation in 1790.<ref name="booneshares.com"/>

The company was reconstituted in 1785<ref name=Soboul192>Soboul, p.192.</ref> and issued 40,000 shares of stock, priced at 1,000 livres apiece.<ref name="booneshares.com" /> It was given monopoly on all trade with countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope<ref name=Soboul192 /> for an agreed period of seven years.<ref name="booneshares.com" /> The agreement, however, did not anticipate the [[French Revolution]], and on 3 April 1790 the monopoly was abolished by an act of the new [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|French Assembly]] which enthusiastically declared that the lucrative Far Eastern trade would henceforth be "thrown open to all Frenchmen".<ref name=Soboul192 /> The company, accustomed neither to competition nor official disfavor, fell into steady decline and was finally liquidated in 1794.<ref name="booneshares.com" />

==Map gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bellin Indoustan 1770.jpg|Carte de L'Indoustan. Bellin, 1770.
Image:European settlements in India 1501-1739.png|French and other European settlements in India.
Image:French India 1741-1754.png|Acme of French influence 1741–1754.
</gallery>

==Liquidation scandal==
Even as the company was headed consciously toward extinction, it became embroiled in its most infamous scandal. The [[Committee of Public Safety]] had banned all joint-stock companies on 24 August 1793, and specifically seized the assets and papers of the East India Company.<ref name=Soboul360>Soboul, pp.360–363.</ref> While its liquidation proceedings were being set up, directors of the company bribed various senior state officials to allow the company to carry out its own liquidation, rather than be supervised by the government.<ref name=Soboul360 /> When this became known the following year, the resulting scandal led to the execution of key [[The Mountain|Montagnard]] deputies like [[Fabre d'Eglantine|Fabre d'Églantine]] and [[Joseph Delaunay]], among others.<ref name=Soboul360 /> The infighting sparked by the episode also brought down [[Georges Danton]]<ref>Doyle, pp. 273–274.</ref> and can be said to have led to the downfall of the Montagnards as a whole.<ref name=Soboul360 />

==Coins==
<gallery>
File:French issued copper coin cast in Pondicherry for internal Indian trade.jpg|French-issued copper coin, cast in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Pondichéry]] for internal Indian trade.
File:French issued gold Pagoda for Southern India trade cast in Pondicherry 1705 1780.jpg|French-issued "[[Pagoda (coin)|Gold Pagoda]]" for [[Southern India]] trade, cast in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Pondichéry]] 1705–1780.
File:French issued rupee in the name of Mohammed Sha 1719 1758 for Northern India trade cast in Pondicherry.jpg|French-issued [[rupee]] in the name of [[Muhammad Shah|Mohammed Shah]] (1719-1748) for Northern India trade, cast in Pondichéry.
</gallery>

== See also ==
[[File:Pondicherry Dupliex.jpg|thumb|Monument to Joseph François Dupleix in [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]].|244x244px]]
{{portal|Companies}}
* [[British East India Company]], founded in 1600
* [[Portuguese East India Company]], founded 1628
* [[Carnatic Wars]]
* [[Chanda Sahib]]
* [[Dutch East India Company]], founded in 1602
* [[Dutch West India Company]], founded in 1621
* [[:fr:Compagnies européennes fondées au XVIIe siècle|European chartered companies founded around the 17th century]] (in French)
* [[France-Asia relations]]
* [[French colonial empire]]
* [[French India]]
* [[List of trading companies]]
* [[Lorient]]
* [[Muzaffar Jang]]
* [[Salabat Jang]]
* [[Swedish East India Company]], founded in 1731
* [[Whampoa anchorage]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==

*{{Cite book |last=Ames|first=Glenn J. |title=Colbert, Mercantilism, and the French Quest for Asian Trade|year=1996|publisher=Northern Illinois University Press|location=DeKalb, IL|isbn=0-87580-207-9 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Boucher |first=P. |title=The Shaping of the French Colonial Empire: A Bio-Bibliography of the Careers of Richelieu, Fouquet and Colbert |year=1985 |publisher=Garland |location=New York }}
*{{Cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=William |author-link=William Doyle (historian) |title=The Oxford History of the French Revolution |edition=2 |year=1990 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-19-925298-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhistoryoff00doyl }}
*Greenwald, Erin M. (2016). ''Marc-Antoine Caillot and the Company of the Indies in Louisiana: Trade in the French Atlantic World.'' Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. {{ISBN|9780807162859}}
*{{Cite book |last=Lokke |first=C. L. |title=France and the Colonial Question: A Study of Contemporary French Public Opinion, 1763-1801 |year=1932 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York }}
*{{Cite book |last=Malleson |first=G. B. |title=History of the French in India |author-link=George Bruce Malleson |year=1893 |publisher=W.H. Allen & Co |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoffrenchi00mallrich}}
*{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=S. P. |title=The French in India, 1763-1816 |year=1958 |publisher=Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay |location=Calcutta |asin=B000HINRSC }}
*{{Cite book |last=Sen |first=S. P. |title=The French in India: First Establishment and Struggle |year=1947 |publisher=University of Calcutta Press |location=Calcutta }}
*{{Cite book |title=The French Revolution 1787–1799 |last=Soboul |first=Albert |author-link=Albert Soboul |year=1975 |publisher=Vintage |location=New York |isbn=0-394-71220-X |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gt4AAAAIAAJ |access-date=2011-01-01 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Subramanian |first=Lakshmi, ed. |title=French East India Company and the Trade of the Indian Ocean: A Collection of Essays by Indrani Chatterjee |year=1999 |publisher=Munshiram Publishers |location=Delhi }}
*{{Cite book |title=Orientalism in early Modern France |last=McCabe |first=Ina Baghdiantz |year=2008 |publisher=Berg |isbn=978-1-84520-374-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LK0iAQAAIAAJ |access-date=2011-01-01 }}
* Wellington, Donald C. ''French East India companies: A historical account and record of trade'' (Hamilton Books, 2006).

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140425154556/http://musee.lorient.fr/ Museum of the French East India Company at Lorient]
* [http://www.cambaceres.org/relation/financiers/financiers.htm#CIE-INDES The French East India Company (1785-1875)] History of the last French East India Company on the site dedicated to its business lawyer Jean-Jacques Regis of Cambaceres.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080603033843/http://www.les-compagnies-des-indes.com/ French East Indies Company nowadays]
*[https://frenchbooksonindia.com/ Frenchbooksonindia.com, an open access multilingual discovery tool with book data from 1531 to 2020, full-text ebooks from 1531 to 1937 and in-text search from c. 1830 to c. 1920]
{{French overseas empire}}
{{Chartered companies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:French East India Company| ]]
[[Category:Yanam]]
[[Category:Colonial Indian companies]]
[[Category:1664 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1664]]
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[[Category:Trading companies of France]]
[[Category:1785 establishments in France]]
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[[Category:1794 disestablishments in French India]]
[[Category:French companies established in 1785]]