The Merchant and the State: The French in India, 1666-1739 (2 Volumes)

The brief survey of the activities of the French East India Company in India, based principally on the unpublished factory records of the French archives, deals with their problems, their linkage with the mercantile groups and their relation with the local rulers. Starting with their arrival at Surat in 1666, this study closes with the occupation of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739, which marks the change of attitude of the European powers including the French towards the Mughal Empire. However this work tries to give a total appraisal of the activities of the French and not their commerce only thus trying to understand the perception of the French in India, revealing in turn the changing Indian politico-economic situation.

The fortune of the French in India declined from the end of the seventeenth century but considerably improved with the formation of another Company in 1719. New factories were established at Mahe, Karikkal and Patna. By 1730s, the investment of the company touched the English investment in Bengal where the activities of Dupleix, narrated here from his unpublished private letters, shows the rising commerce and the increasing aggressive attitude of the French.

About the Author:

Aniruddha Ray, retired Professor of Calcutta University, has published the following, namely, edn. of S.N. Sen, Foreign Biographies of Shivaji (1977); Some Aspects of Mughal Administration (1984); ed. with S.K. Bagchi, Technology in Ancient and Medieval India (1986); The Rebel Nawab: Revolt of Vizier Ali Khan of Oudh (1990); trans. and ed. with Ratnabali Chatterjee, Society & Culture of Medieval Bengal (in Bengali), (1992); with S. Arasaratnam, Masulipatnam and Cambay. A History of Two Ports-towns 1500-1800 (1994); ed. with others, Murshidabad Affairs, 1821-1850 (1995); Economic History of Mughal India (in Bengali), (1996); Economic History of Sultanate Period (in Bengali), (1997); Adventurers, Landowners and Rebels. Bengal c. 1575-c. 1715 (1998); Jadunath Sarkar (in Bengali), (1999); Medieval Indian Towns (in Bengali), (1999); ed., Tipu Sultan and His Age (2002); and ed. with K.S. Mathew and M.A. Nayeem, History of the Deccan (2002). Prof. Ray was the Secretary of the Indian History Congress. He has participated in seminars in USA, France, England, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Bangladesh.

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