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The French East India Company ((フランス語:Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales)) was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch East India companies in the East Indies. Planned by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, it was chartered by King Louis XIV for the purpose of trading in the Eastern Hemisphere. It resulted from the fusion of three earlier companies, the 1660 Compagnie de Chine, the Compagnie d'Orient and Compagnie de Madagascar. The first Director General for the Company was De Faye, who was adjoined two Directors belonging to the two most successful trading organizations at that time: François Caron, who had spent 30 years working for the Dutch East India Company, including more than 20 years in Japan,〔Caron lived in Japan from 1619 to 1641. ''A Collector's Guide to Books on Japan in English'' By Jozef Rogala, p.31 ()〕 and Marcara Avanchintz, a trader from Ispahan, Persia.〔McCabe, p.104〕 ==History== French king Henry IV authorized the first ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'', granting the firm a 15-year monopoly of the Indies trade. This precursor to Colbert's later ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'', however, was not a joint-stock corporation, and was funded by the Crown. The initial capital of the revamped ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' was 15 million livres, divided into shares of 1000 livres apiece. Louis XIV funded the first 3 million livres of investment, against which losses in the first 10 years were to be charged.〔 The initial stock offering quickly sold out, as courtiers of Louis XIV recognized that it was in their interests to support the King’s overseas initiative. The ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' was granted a 50-year monopoly on French trade in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, a region stretching from the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan.〔 The French monarch also granted the Company a concession in perpetuity for the island of Madagascar, as well as any other territories it could conquer. The Company failed to found a successful colony on Madagascar, but was able to establish ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion and Mauritius). By 1719, it had established itself in India, but the firm was near bankruptcy. In the same year the ''Compagnie des Indes Orientales'' was combined under the direction of John Law with other French trading companies to form the ''Compagnie Perpétuelle des Indes''. The reorganized corporation resumed its operating independence in 1723. With the decline of the Mughal Empire, the French decided to intervene in Indian political affairs to protect their interests, notably by forging alliances with local rulers in south India. From 1741 the French under Joseph François Dupleix pursued an aggressive policy against both the Indians and the British until they ultimately were defeated by Robert Clive. Several Indian trading ports, including Pondichéry and Chandernagore, remained under French control until 1954. The Company was not able to maintain itself financially, and it was abolished in 1769, about 20 years before the French Revolution. King Louis XVI issued a 1769 edict that required the Company to transfer to the state all its properties, assets and rights, which were valued at 30 million livres. The King agreed to pay all of the Company’s debts and obligations, though holders of Company stock and notes received only an estimated 15 percent of the face value of their investments by the end of corporate liquidation in 1790.〔 The company was reconstituted in 1785〔Soboul, p.192.〕 and issued 40,000 shares of stock priced at 1,000 livres apiece.〔 It was given monopoly on all trade with countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope〔 for an agreed period of seven years.〔 The agreement, however, did not anticipate the French Revolution, and on 3 April 1790 the monopoly was abolished by an act of the new French Assembly which enthusiastically declared that the lucrative Far Eastern trade would henceforth be "thrown open to all Frenchmen".〔 The company, accustomed neither to competition nor official disfavor, fell into steady decline and was finally liquidated in 1794.〔 File:Bellin Indoustan 1770.jpg|Carte de L'Indoustan. Bellin, 1770. Image:European settlements in India 1501-1739.png|French and other European settlements in India. Image:French India 1741-1754.png|Acme of French influence 1741-1754. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「French East India Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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