Once bitten, twice shy: A French traveller and go-between in Mughal India, 1648–67

Sanjay Subrahmanyam

The Indian Economic & Social History Review, 2021, vol. 58, issue 2, 153-212

Abstract: This article examines the materials around François le Gouz de la Boullaye, a French gentilhomme (gentleman or minor aristocrat) from the Anjou Province of western France, who visited India twice, once in the late 1640s, and again in the mid-1660s. The result of his first visit, in which he mostly spent time in Surat and Goa, was an extended travel-narrative, the Voyages et Observations, of which two editions appeared in 1653 and 1657. On this basis, Boullaye became a fairly well-known ‘expert’ on Islamic and Indian affairs in Louis XIV’s France. Because of his reputation, he was then chosen as a member of an embassy sent to open trading relations with Safavid Iran and Mughal India in 1664 on behalf of the French Compagnie des Indes. This second visit was not a great success on account of misconceptions regarding diplomatic protocols and because of deep rivalries and divisions amongst rival French actors, including celebrated travellers like Bernier and Tavernier .

Keywords: Mughal India; Louis XIV; France; Compagnie des Indes; Boullaye; Bernier; Tavernier (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indeco:v:58:y:2021:i:2:p:153-212

DOI: 10.1177/0019464621997863

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