initiative, it did not attract the general public of France who viewed it as yet another way to tax people. Pondicherry through Madagascar The French traders arrived in Madagascar (in Africa) in . Though the French colonized Madagascar, they had to abandon it in , excepting a small coastal trading post. Berber, a French agent in India obtained a firman [a royal command or authorization] on September , from Aurangzeb and the first French factory was established at Surat in December , much against the opposition of the Dutch.
Within a year the French established another factory at Masulipatnam. Factory in the then context referred to a warehouse or a place where factors, or commercial agents, resided to transact business for their employers abroad. Realizing the need for a stronger foothold in India, Colbert sent a fleet to India, led by Haye (Jacob Blanquet de la Haye). The French were able to remove the Dutch from San Thome in Mylapore in .
The French sought the support of Sher Khan Lodi, the local Governor, who represented the Sultan of Bijapur, against the Dutch. The Dutch befriended the King of Golkonda who was a traditional foe of Bijapur. It was Sher Khan Lodi who offered Pondicherry (Puducherry) as a suitable site for their settlement. Pondicherry in Dutch Cemetery, Pulicat Pulicat served as the Coromandel headquarters of the Dutch East India Company.
Diamonds were exported from Pulicat to the western countries. Nutmeg, cloves, and mace too were sent from here to Europe. A gun powder factory was also set up by the Dutch to augment their military power. One less known fact about the Dutch is they were involved in slave trade.
People from Bengal and from settlements such as Tengapattinam and Karaikal were brought to Pulicat. The Dutch employed brokers at Madras for catching and shipping slaves. Famines, droughts and war that resulted in food shortage led to the flourishing of the slave trade. Wil O Dijk, a Ph.D.
Scholar at Leiden University in one of her research papers noted that the passenger list of slaves transported in VOC