French East India Company (Cromwell the Great)

The French East India Company (Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the 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, and Marcara Avanchintz, a trader from Ispahan, Persia

The main competitors of the Compagnie were the British East India Company, Dutch East Indies Company (VOC), Danish East India Company and the Flemish Ostend Company. The 18th century Carnatic Wars established the present colonial strongholds and system of Indian alliances.