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The French East India Company: France's Forgotten Empire in Asia
While the British and Dutch East India companies dominated the history books, France also built a sprawling commercial empire in Asia through its own East India Company—the Compagnie des Indes Orientales. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the founding of the company under Jean-Baptiste Colbert in 1664, its early struggles to establish a foothold in India amid Dutch and English hostility, and the remarkable rise of François Martin, who built the city of Pondichéry from a fishing village into a fortified trading hub. They delve into the company's unique structure as a state-backed…
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