->Rathfelder at 12:21, 11 September 2021

2021-09-11T12:21:29Z

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{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
[[Baron]] '''Jean Law de Lauriston''', was born on October 5, 1719 in [[Paris]]. He was twice [[Governor General]] of [[Pondicherry]]. Not much is known about his life, but his contributions to the [[French Colonial Empire]] are notable.

Law was a nephew of the financier [[John Law (economist)|John Law]], who had founded the [[Banque Générale]] and in 1719 had helped re-finance the French Indies companies.<ref>William Dalrymple ''The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of The East India Company'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019, p.48.</ref>
Jean Law was a contemporary of Alivardi Khan who says about him that, "He saw with equal indignation and surprise the progress of the French and the English on the [[Coromandel Coast]] as well as in the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]]."

Jean Law’s son was soldier and diplomat [[Jacques Lauriston]].

==In 1765==
When in 1765 the town of [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]] was returned to [[France]] after a peace treaty with [[England]], Pondicherry was in ruins. Jean Law de Lauriston, then Governor General set to rebuild the town on the old foundations and after five months 200 European and 2000 [[Tamil people|Tamil]] houses had been erected.

==Transfer of Yanaon==
Another significant event in the life of Lauriston was the re-transfer of [[Yanam, French India|Yanam]] to the French. A document dated 15 May 1765 showed that the villages of Yanam and Kapulapalem, with certain other lands, had been ceded by John White Hill and George Dolben. These two were Englishmen acting as agents for Jean Pybus, the head of the English settlement in [[Masulipatam]]. They had negotiated a deal (for taking over the villages) with Jean-Jacques Panon, the French [[Commissioner]], who was Jean Law de Lauriston's deputy when he was Governor General of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Pondicherry]]. The 1765 document mentions that France entered into possession of Yanam and its dependent territories with exemption from all export and import duties.

==Memoire of 1767==
[[File:Shah-alam-ii-mughal-emperor-of-india-reviewing-the-east-india-companys-troops-1781-1894 1247854.jpg|thumb|Jean Law's Memoire: ''Mémoires sur quelques affaires de l’Empire Mogol 1756-1761'' contains detailed information about the campaign of the [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Shah Alam II]] and his [[France|French]] allies against the [[British East India Company]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRK1x3GSmYk|title=YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>]]

Jean Law de Lauriston wrote ''Mémoires sur quelques affaires de l’Empire Mogol 1756-1761'' which can be found in "Libraires de la Société de l'histoire des colonies françaises" [[Paris]].

He stated in his "Memoire of 1767" as “It is from [[Yanam, French India|Yanam]] that we get out best ‘guiness’ (fine cloth). It is possible to have a commerce here worth more than a million ''[[French livre|livres]]'' per year under circumstances more favorable than those in which we are placed now, but always by giving advances much earlier, which we have never been in a position to do. From this place we also procured teakwood, oils rice and other grains both for the men as well as for the animals. Apart from commerce, Yanam enjoyed another kind of importance. The advantages which may be derived in a time of war from the alliances that we the French may conclude with several [[Raja]]s who sooner or later cannot fail to be dissatisfied with the English. Although the English gained an effective control over the [[Circars]], Yanam enabled the French to enter into secret relations with the local chieftains. Yanam had some commercial importance".

==Death==
He died in Paris on July 16, 1797. There is a village in his name in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] which is still today called as "Lawspet".

His son, [[Jacques Lauriston]], became a general in the French army during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].

== References ==
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{{Succession box | before= First British Occupation<br>(January 16, 1761 - June 25, 1765)| title=[[Gouverneur Général de l'Inde française]]| after=[[Antoine Boyellau]] | years=1765–1766}}

{{Succession box | before=[[Antoine Boyellau]] | title=[[Gouverneur Général de l'Inde française]]| after=[[Guillaume de Bellecombe|Guillaume de Bellecombe, Seigneur de Teirac]] | years=1767–January 1777}}
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[[Category:French colonial governors and administrators]]
[[Category:Governors of French India]]
[[Category:Civil servants from Paris]]

Jean Law de Lauriston - Revision history

->Rathfelder at 12:21, 11 September 2021