THE CURRENCY OF KINSHIP: TRADING FAMILIES AND TRADING ON FAMILY IN COLONIAL FRENCH INDIA.

The essay considers how kinship played a part in the social and political relationships between French and Tamil inhabitants of the colony of Pondichéry on the Coromandel Coast of India in the eighteenth century. French colonial rule under the auspices of the Compagnie des Indes orientales, a French trading company, often considered local families in their decision-making processes. The correspondence of the widow of Guruvappa, a chief commercial broker for the Company, is explored.