Where Do Go-Betweens Go? Colonial Intermediaries in Eighteenth Century India

This project examines French imperialism in India (1664-1761), and uncovers the different ways French traders, missionaries, and other settlers relied on their Indian employees. By foregrounding the tense relationship between the French and their local intermediaries, Danna Agmon exposes difficulties and failures that were a crucial yet hidden aspect of early colonial expansion. She hopes to demonstrate that the often-overlooked French experience in India is thus representative of the fractured, tense, and densely populated early stages of all colonial histories.