ABSTRACT
In 1719 the new Compagnie des Indes inherited from its predecessor two comptoirs, that is extra-territorial settlements, in India. One was at Pondicherry on the Coromandel coast and the other at Chandannagar in Bengal. It also held loges, factories within Indian towns, at Machilipatnam on Coromandel, Baleshwar at the mouth of the Ganges, Calicut on the Malabar coast and Surat in Gujarat. To these were added a loge at Yanam in 1721 and the comptoirs of Mahe on Malabar in 1725 and Karaikal in Thanjavur in 1739. Unlike the English with their system of separate presidencies for different regions of India, the French eventually chose a single administrative organization for India with one Superior Council at Pondicherry. Although it was the headquarters of the Company, Pondicherry was a less important trading centre than Chandannagar. On Coromandel the Company established its own weaving centre in Pondicherry and bought coarse cotton textiles for Europe and for re-export to America. The Company’s investment in Asian trade was entrusted to the governor and the Superior Council who used it principally on routes from Coromandel to Mocha on the Red Sea and Manila in the Philippines. Pondicherry also traded with south-east Asia and China. 1
