Once bitten, twice shy

A French traveller and go-between in Mughal India, 1648–67

Bibliographic Data

ID8961662
AuthorsSanjay Subrahmanyam (0000-0001-7781-086X, Department of History, UCLA, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume58
Issue2
Pages153-212
Publication date2021-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Indian Economic & Social History Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0019-4646 • E-ISSN: 0973-0893
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0019464621997863
OpenAlexW3157042145
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited53

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

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Islam · Literature · Minor (academic · Narrative · Political science · Reputation · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law

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