French East India Company

French East India Company

The coming of French to India started very late and their initial attempts failed because of Dutchess. even then people like Henry IV. Rislu and Colbert (finance minister of Henry IV) realised the significance of Eastern trade. On Colbert's request in 1664, Compagnie Des Indes Orientals was established in India. In 1667, an expedition group came to India under the leadership of Francis Caro and established first factory in Surat.

In 1669, Mercara established second factory in Masulipatnam after getting permission from the Sultan of Golkunda.

In 1672, the French acquired Santhome near Madras.

In 1673, Franco Martin and Laspino got a village from the Muslim Subedar of Valikondapur, this latter became Pondicherry.

In 1674, Shaista Khan, nawab of Bengal provided a place for the French settlement where the famous mansion of Chandranagar was built in 1692.

The rivalry between the Dutch and French were going on in Europe due to which Dutch took Pondicherry away from french in 1693, but after the Rizwik treaty in 1697, Dutch returned Pondicherry to French.

In 1706, the population of Pondicherry had reached 40000.

In June 1720, the company was restructured as permanent in India.