The Merchant and the State: The French in India, 1666-1739

Indian historian Ray (retired, Calcutta U.) presents a brief history of the French Company of the Indies beginning with its arrival in India in 1666, based largely on the unpublished factory records of the French archives. He examines the factors and circumstances leading to the establishment of different factories in India and their activities, in the context of changing fortunes of the Company in France, its policy decisions, and the effects of those on the functioning of their factories in India. He also looks at the problems faced by the French personnel in India while confronting the state power and their attempts to overcome these problems. Several fold-out reproductions of original site maps are included. The two volumes are paged and indexed together. Distributed in the US by South Asia Books. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)