French East India Company
- Establishment of French East India Company – 1664 AD
- First trading factory in India – 1668 AD.
French East India Company -PHOTO CREDIT-WIKIPEDIA
Initially the company had great difficulty getting financial support from French merchants, and it is also believed that Colbert exerted political and military pressure on many of them to join. He (Jean-Baptiste Colbert) enlisted François Charpentier of the French Academy to write a glossy advertisement to attract businessmen to the company and to show the benefits it brought, raising some questions in the advertisement. Why should French people buy gold, pepper, cinnamon and cotton from foreign traders?
Louis XIV also wrote letters to the merchants of 119 towns to strengthen the company, ordering merchants to subscribe and discuss the company, despite many merchants refusing to subscribe to it. The condition of the French East India Company was that by 1668 the king (Louis XIV) himself was the largest investor in the company, and the company was to remain under his control. Thus it was a government trading company controlled by a king.
French company’s arrival in India
The French arrived late to India as compared to other European companies. The French East India Company was established Louis XIV, Minister of France by Colbert in 1664 AD. in the year, which was called the ‘Company des Indés Orientales’. The French trading company had privileges and financial resources from the state. That is why it was called a government trading company. In 1667 AD, an expedition led by Francis Carey left for India. Who established his first trading factory in Surat in 1668 AD.
In 1669, Merkara, after obtaining permission from the Sultan of Golconda, established a second French factory at Masulipatnam. 1672 AD In AD Admiral Della Hay defeated the Sultan of Golconda and captured Santhomi. 1673 AD In AD Francis Martin, the director of the company, obtained a village called Perduchuri from Sherkhan Lodi, the Subedar of Valikondapur, which later came to be known as Pondicherry. 1674 AD In 1690-92 AD on the place given to the French by Shaista Khan, the Subedar of Bengal. Founded Chandranagar.
The Dutch with the help of the British in 1693 AD. Captured Pondicherry in 1697 AD. After the Treaty of Rizwick, Pondicherry was again given to the French. 1701 AD Pondicherry was made the headquarters of the formerly French settlements in AD and Martin was appointed Director General of French Affairs in India. Martin built Fort Louis in Pondicherry’s factory itself. Martin gained personal trust, respect and respect for Indian merchants and kings by treating them fairly and fairly. 1706 AD After the death of Marten in AD, the level of French settlements and trade declined.
Appointment of Dupleix as Governor of French Company in India
1731 AD It was only after the appointment of the French Governor Dupleix as the head of Chandranagar in AD that the French were once again enthusiastic. Between 1706 and 1720 AD, there was a decline of French influence in India. As a result in 1720 AD. In 2006 the company was rebuilt as the Permanent Company of the Indies. The French established Mauritius in 1721 AD, Mahi located in Malabar in 1724 AD and 1739 AD. I took over Karikala. The French East India Company was established in India for commercial purposes, political warfare was not among their goals. The French built fortifications for protection from the British and Dutch and recruited soldiers for defense.
1742 AD After this, the French also became active in the direction of fulfilling the political purpose rather than making commercial profit. As a result, war started between the British and the French. The war fought between the British and the French was known as the War of Carnatic. The area situated on the Coromandel Coast was called Karnataka or Karnataka. But there was a struggle between these two companies for about twenty years for the rights. The fortified Madras and Pondicherry situated on the Coromandel Coast were strategically important settlements of the British and the French respectively. The then Karnataka was under the control of the Subedar of Deccan, whose capital was Arcot.
First Carnatic War (1746-48 AD)-
The immediate cause of this war was the capture of some French Jahans by the English army under the leadership of the British Captain Burnett.
In turn, Dupleix, with the support of the French governor (Mauritius) La Bourdain, forced Morse, the governor of Madras, to surrender, who at this time was completely helpless to the French.
At the time of the First Carnatic War, the Nawab of Carnatic Anwaruddin sent an army of ten thousand soldiers under the leadership of Mahfouz Khan to attack the French, the French army led by Captain Paradise defeated the Nawab in the Battle of Santhome.
June, 1748 AD A Jahanji fleet under the leadership of the British Rear-Admiral Boscaben besieged Pondicherry, but did not succeed.
1749 AD to end the succession war being fought in Austria between the British and the French in Europe. The conflict between these two companies ended in India also after the completion of the treaty named Ouxa-la-Chapelle. Madras was again given to the British.
Second Carnatic War (1749-54 AD)-
At the time of this war, there was a conflict over the post of Nawabi of Carnatic, Chanda Saheb obtained the support of Dupleix for the Nawabi, on the other hand Dupleix supported the Subedari of Deccan for Muzaffarjung.
The British extended their support to Anwaruddin and Nasirjung.
Chandasaheb in 1749 AD. He defeated and killed Anwaruddin at Ambur and captured most of Karnataka, but Muzaffar Jung was defeated by his brother Nasir Jung for the Subedari of the Deccan. But after the death of Nasir in 1750, Muzaffar became the Subedar of the Deccan.
At this time the influence of the French in South India was at its peak, meanwhile Robert Clive, who had come from England to Madras as a cleric, in 1751 AD. I raided Dharwar and captured it with 500 soldiers.
Soon the French army was forced to surrender and Chanda Sahib was assassinated.
Criticizing Dupleix’s policy in India, French-based officials called him back to England and replaced him with Godhe on 1 August 1754. was made governor.
About Dupley, J. and. Marriott said that Dupleix made a terrible mistake by searching for it in Madras, India’s capital, Clive discovered it in Bengal.
Third Carnatic War (1757-63 AD)-
The immediate cause of this war was the capture of Chandranagar in Bengal by Clive and Watson.
Under this war, a decisive battle called Wandiwash was fought between the British and the French.
January 22, 1760 AD. In the battle of Wandivash, the British army was led by Ayerkoot and the French army was led by Lali. The French were badly defeated in this war, this defeat wrote the story of the decline of the French in India.
January 16, 1761 AD. The British got possession of Pondicherry.
The main reasons for the failure of French power in India were as follows-
- Non-cooperation of the French Government.
- Feudal nature of the Company and excessive imperial control.
- The naval supremacy of England.
- Compared to the French generals Dupleix, Bussy, the British generals Clive, Laurence, Ayercoot, etc. were more intelligent generals.