the French (Pondicherry, 1673-1954)
	Overland through the Deccan-- a French map of trade routes, 1666; for an overview of their settlements in Bengal see *Three Frenchmen in Bengal*, by S. C. Hill (1903)
*PONDI- CHERRY*	The most important French settlement was at Pondicherry on the *Coromandel Coast*; for an account of life in Pondicherry under the famous Governor Dupleix, see the diary of *Ananda Ranga Pillai, 1736-61*
	In addition to their principal settlement at the French had another important "factory" in CHANDERNAGORE, near Calcutta
	Like other Indian powers, the French struck lovely silver coins in the name of the Mughal emperor
*MALLET MAPS AND VIEWS*	Alain Manesson Mallet (1630-1706) in the late 1600's created a series of remarkably influential maps and views in his famous *Description de l'Univers*
*BELLIN'S MAPS*	By the time of the great cartographer Jacques-Nicolas Bellin in the 1700's, things were much improved: *Bellin's maps* and views had great charm and accuracy
*PREVOST MAPS AND VIEWS*	Above all there was the Abbé Prévost, whose 15-volume *Histoire Générale des Voyages* (Paris, 1746-1759) was a treasure-house of Bellin's maps and views
	Who better than Prévost to show us the hill in Ceylon where Adam's footprint, which had been left atop a mountain after the Flood, was still to be seen?
	Other French artists and engravers also took an interest in South Asia
	Diderot included in his famous Encyclopedia this chart of the Bengali alphabet
	Albert Racinet published exquisitely engraved studies of the clothing and cultural styles of the Mughals, and of *many other Indian fashions* as well
	The early twentieth century saw the elaborate technique of "pochoir," or hand-coloring with stencils, applied to studies of women's fashions
	And as ever, there was the romantic/erotic fantasy vision

 

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