Danna Agmon
“Where Do Go-Betweens Go? Colonial Intermediaries in French India, 1664-1761”
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Abstract
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This project examines early French imperialism in India (1664-1761), and attempts to uncover the different ways in which French traders, missionaries and other settlers relied on their Indian employees. To what extent was the French venture in India dependent on the work of go-betweens? What were the conflicts, meanings and new social spaces that arose from the symbiotic bonds between intermediaries and European
employers? Finally, how did dependence on local intermediaries affect the form of French imperialism? This dissertation intervenes in ongoing debates about the nature and history of French Empire, by showing that the construction of empire is a negotiated process, in which power can be distributed in unexpected ways. By foregrounding the relationship between the French and their intermediaries, I expose difficulties and failures that are a central yet hidden component of early colonial expansion. I hope to demonstrate that the often-overlooked French experience in India is a necessary reminder of the fractured, tense nature of the initial stages of all colonial histories, and of the pivotal role intermediaries play at such moments. I examine three sets of employer-employee relationships in French India: between French Jesuit missionaries and the Tamil Christians who worked as religious instructors (catechists); between traders of the French East Indies Company and the commercial interpreters (Dubashes) who assisted them; and finally between French men and women and the Indian domestic servants they employed.
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