Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and South India under French Rule

This is a study of the colonization of Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and South India by the French during the eighteenth century, and their interactions with the Indian rulers and populations in the political, economic, social and religious spheres. French Governors based in Pondicherry since François Martin up to Dupleix never acquired any territory for France through outright conquest. They or their masters in France never had any grand plan to establish a French empire in India. Some Indian rulers