1.3 French East India Company
French East India Company
2020-04-27 14:55:09
- 1664 : During the reign of Louis XIV minister Colbert estd FEIC w/ 50 years monopoly to trade in Indian and Pacfic Ocean
- 1667 : Francois Caron expedition to India estd a factory in Surat.
- 1669 : Mercara founded another factory at Masulipatnam
- 1673 : permission from Shaista Khan (Bengal) to estd township Chandernagore
- 1673 : Sher Khan Lodi gov of Valikondapuram (Bijapur) granted Francois Martin land thus Pondicherry was founded in 1674
Administrative Limitation of FEIC
- #todo
- Inferior system of Governance in France which was despotic where everything depended on the personality of the Monarch
- Lack of a democratic constitutional set up further limited the scope of imaginative means to improve inefficiencies of the govt/administration
**Alfred Lyall** : India was lost due to the short sighted, ill managed European policy of Louis XV misguided by his mistressess and incompetent ministers.
- FEIC was a dept of the state w/ most of the capital subscribed by the Monarch. Directors were nominated by the King, who were under 2 High Commissioners.
- State guaranteed return to shareholders not the FEIC -> led to administrative indifference
- Company frequently borrowed capital and sold trading rights in lieu to annual sums of money. Coy was also heavily subsidised
- English superiority on the seas
collapse: open
**Alfred Lyall** : 2 primary conditions of success in India was estd of strong points of support in the coast and maintenance of naval force to keep communications open.
- Bussy and Lally looked down upon their subordinates alienating their compatriots
- Continental Policy followed by France got her involved in wars near her home that disallowed them to send colonies abroad.
- French had only one seat of power that was Pondicherry. British had many.
Economic Limitation of FEIC
- #todo
- 1769 : was abolished by Louis XVI. He agreed to pay FEIC's debt and obligations all its properties were transferred to the state
- 1785 : Reconstituted its monopoly was abolished in 1790 due to French Revolution. It was liquidated in 1794 when FEIC failed to bribe ministers to carry out its own liquidation
- The Carnatic wars (1740-63), Austrian war of Succession (1740-48), Seven Years war(1756-63) and French participation in the American War of Independence(1765-83 ) stretched finances.
- Simultaneous expansion in colonies and continent . This divided its scarce resource.
- The aristocrats and French Nobility were corrupt and spent way too much in debauchery and unecessary lavishness. French Revolution was final nail in the coffin
- Administrative Limitation meant that they could not strengthen their foothold in India -> Lower economic remuneration from Indian colonies
- Losses in War had them further lose influence on native rulers and grant of territory dec and thus their revenue.
- Financial Losses apparent esp in 2nd and 3rd Carnatic war ex Bussy's recall because of it, unpaid soldiers.
- Bussy was indifferent towards financial losses, his lack of imagination or innovation to counter financial problems at a time when EIC was gaining so much from its India trade