The French East India Companies

The French East India Companies

This article relates to Beyond the Door of No Return

In David Diop's novel Beyond the Door of No Return, French botanist Michel Adanson journeys across 18^th-century Senegal to discover the fate of a woman who was kidnapped. At the time of the story, much of the area was either directly or indirectly under the control of the French East India Company, a less-known competitor to the United East India Company.

Known in French as the Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales, the first French East India Company was founded in 1664 by Jean Baptiste Colbert with the backing of King Louis XIV as part of a wider plan to strengthen the French economy. The company was given several potentially lucrative grants, including a 50-year monopoly on trade east of the Cape of Good Hope. It was a joint stock company, meaning investors could buy shares in the company, much like modern stocks. However, the company initially struggled to secure investors and funding. Efforts to advertise the opportunity were met with mixed success, and the most significant investor was ultimately the king himself.

In its first few decades the company had difficulty making ends meet and often had to take out loans. Several factors contributed to this, including competition and conflict with the Dutch and continuing trouble obtaining investors, ships and even sailors.

In 1719 the Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales became a part of the broader Compagnie de Indes, which was active in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and North America. In colonized areas the company represented the French crown, essentially acting as a colonial government with powers up to and including the right to maintain armies and make war. These powers often led to brutal treatment of Indigenous people, and the company also played a major role in the transatlantic slave trade. France was the third most active perpetrator, after Portugal and Great Britain.

In the 17^th century the majority of those enslaved by the French came from Senegal, where Diop's novel is set, though in the 18^th century the focus gradually shifted to West Africa.

France's defeat in the Seven Years' War, which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, resulted in the loss of both Senegal and the majority of France's North American colonies to Britain. These losses sent the company into a steep decline. The third and final iteration of the company was founded in 1785 and lasted less than a decade. Its ultimate dissolution occurred in 1793, amidst a scandal in which members of the revolutionary government were accused of taking company bribes. Though never as successful as their Dutch and British counterparts, the French East India Companies played a massive role in French colonialism and the harm it caused.

Coat of arms of the French East India Company, courtesy of Le Républicain Lorrain

Filed under People, Eras & Events

This "beyond the book article" relates to Beyond the Door of No Return. It originally ran in September 2023 and has been updated for the September 2024 paperback edition. Go to magazine.

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