The French in Pondichéry: A Corporate Empire in the Indian Ocean

While the British East India Company gets most of the attention, the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales built a formidable commercial empire in India from its base at Pondichéry. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how a state-backed trading company conquered territory, recruited Indian soldiers, and nearly drove the British out of India. They examine the rise of Pondichéry under governors like François Martin and Joseph François Dupleix, the company's reliance on sepoy armies, and the pivotal role of the Mughal Nawab of the Carnatic. The conversation covers the Carnatic Wars of the 1740s and 50s, where French and British proxies fought for control of the Coromandel Coast, the rivalry with the British East India Company, and the eventual decline of French power after the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760. Listeners will gain a clear understanding of how one relatively small coastal settlement became a linchpin of French colonial ambitions, and why the French ultimately lost their Indian empire to the British. #Pondichéry #CompagnieDesIndesOrientales #FrenchEastIndiaCompany #FrançoisMartin #JosephFrançoisDupleix #CarnaticWars #BattleOfWandiwash #Sepoy #NawabOfTheCarnatic #CoromandelCoast #EuropeanColonialism #IndianHistory #17thCentury #18thCentury #ColonialTrade #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo