France in India in the 18th century

For the challenge was indeed ‘to be in India’ and to set up a commercial network drawing on the experience of merchants and doctors, such as Jean-Baptiste Tavernier and François Bernier, and of certain bribed defectors and sailors; in short, unique travellers who, for all their virtues, had a partial view of the country. Would they have promulgated the idea of a Mughal Empire at the peak of its power and even inclined the Most Christian King towards it?

That is likely to have been the case, for initial steps were made in this direction in Surat, north-western India, in 1669. On paper, it was perfect. The reality, however, was one of unchosen intermediaries, a simple corporation (or lodge), increasingly expensive goods and a port under threat from the Marathas. 

Reaching a solution involved connecting with the production zones and negotiating favourable conditions with local authorities. It was essential to have trading posts, i.e. larger, less dependent spaces capable of financing themselves, defending themselves and allowing ships to dock. Hence the presence of the Persian squadron in the Arabian Sea in 1671 – a mission complicated by the war with the Dutch Republic and which came to a failed end in San Thome, near Madras.

But this failure gave rise to the Company’s first trading post in 1673. 170 kilometres south of Madras, Pondicherry, which produced blue and white guinée cloth, would become the nerve centre of a vast trading network. Initial efforts focused on Bengal, the veritable factory of India. Bourreau-Deslandes settled in Chandernagor in 1689, on the right bank of the Hougly River, in a bid to tap into the flow of precious textiles. Mahé was founded on the Malabar Coast in 1721 with a view to developing pepper trading there. Yanaon, which opened in 1728, replaced Masulipatnam lodge and controlled the trading of painted cotton fabrics. In 1739, despite its textile activities, the rural colony of Karikal was designated as a site generating revenue and supplying other trading posts.

As such, while France’s raison d'être in India in the 18^th century was commercial by definition, it was also an important political element in a context marked by the collapse of the Mughal Empire and the hostility of Europe’s monarchies. Furthermore, setting foot in India meant entering a dangerous cycle: trading posts and lodges were liable to the Indian princes, who in turn relied on the Europeans to take part in their disputes. Conversely, the prospect of supporting the nabob they deemed to be the most favourable was hugely enticing for the Indian princes. And so it was that Benoît Dumas acquired Karikal, unquestionably paving the way for France’s period of hegemony in India.

It is worth remembering here that, by virtue of the War of the Austrian Succession, Governor Joseph François Dupleix gained indirect control of what was effectively a third of India and received the title of nabob. Despite the situation on the ground necessitating immediate decisions, Dupleix was driven in his exploits by a desire to develop trade, eliminate the competition, ensure his own safety and security in a volatile country, and obtain the recognition the bourgeoisie in France lacked – and ultimately by the arrogance to believe that Pondicherry would not only be able to win a war against the British, but also restructure India to suit his interests. Dupleix’s recall in 1754 was designed to demonstrate once and for all that neither the Company nor the Crown intended to support a policy of ‘grands établissements’.

Godeheu-Saunders’ treaty brought this episode to a close while still preserving the principal asset that was maintaining Bussy’s troops in Hyderabad with the subedar of the Deccan. However, the Seven Years’ War sounded the death knell for the grand era of the trading posts. They fell into literal ruin in 1761, their trade dwindling after 1765 and the French East India Company losing its associated privileges in 1773. This French presence nevertheless displayed surprising resilience in the face of the British East India Company’s dominance. There was an undeniable will to stay in India – in the hope of halting the political and commercial progress of the English.

And France did indeed still have some trump cards up its sleeve. The competition between nabobs, and the threat the English now posed to them, necessitated the importation of an – often French – military revolution. So they turned to those who had been flocking to the region since 1760: discharged soldiers, escapees, deserters... the adventurers who offered their services to the Indian princes, such as Lallée or Madec, played their own role in the American War of Independence. The strong presence of the French Jesuits, who helped acculturate the populations while also spreading knowledge of Indian traditions, was another influential factor. This ‘Indianism’ was then secularised by figures closely affiliated with the defunct French East India Company, such as Anquetil-Duperron.

It would have thus only taken one ambitious decision to change not only the face of India, but indeed also that of the entire world.

Published in october 2024