The French in India: Joseph François Dupleix's Lost Empire

Before the British Raj, France nearly ruled India. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the extraordinary rise and fall of Joseph François Dupleix, the French governor who masterminded a strategy of local alliances, puppet rulers, and military innovation that briefly made the French East India Company the dominant European power in southern India. From his first posting in Pondichéry to the siege of Madras and the Battle of Ambur, Dupleix transformed a trading company into an imperial machine. But why did France lose its Indian empire? Lucas unpacks the fatal combination of Company parsimony, British naval superiority, and the tragic figure of Dupleix himself — a visionary recalled in disgrace. Along the way, they touch on the Mughal decline, the Carnatic region, the role of Indian nawabs, and the shadow of Robert Clive. This is the forgotten story of how France almost won India. #FrenchEastIndiaCompany #JosephFrançoisDupleix #Pondichéry #Carnatic #BritishRaj #RobertClive #Madras #BattleOfAmbur #MughalDecline #Nawab #ColonialIndia #18thCentury #FexingoHistory #History #FrenchColonialEmpire #IndiaHistory #Colonialism #Dupleix Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo