Although French india seems to be developing pretty much analogously to otl British India, I have to expect massive differences on the ground.
For one I’d be very interested to see a world where French officials are met with the Raja of Shergar Francis Bourbon, and the place he would claim in the French world. Otl the massive debate between orientalists and evangelists ended up going to the evangelists with the ensuing anglicisation of india- ittl the French officialdom in india, being much more dominated by a feudal nobility, would be much more appreciative of noble titles granted by the Mughal court and with the already existing example of a French dynasty in india might very quickly assimilate to Indo-Persian society. Though Dupleixs replacement in india is before the pod, apparently his stepdaughter Marie was at one point proposed as a bride for the Mughal emperor, which I think is suggestive of the French attitude- successive French governors, aware that their position could be taken away by any royal whim, would find it advantageous to create dynastic ties with local rulers to ensure they remain permanently relevant.
The fact that mention was made of Mughal troops in a confrontation with the sikhs in the 1830s as well is very significant- otl there simply was no Mughal army post 1770, and in the update about the Mysore civil war it says that the Wadiyar exile is kept in house arrest by the Mughals in Awadh- this suggests to me that the Mughal emperor is doing miles better than otl. perhaps the fact that the French retained the northern Circars meant that they were able to aid Shah Alam II at an alt Battle of Buxar, which led to Mughal resurgence and renewed control over Awadh at the very least- Shah Alam and Buxar is the latest point the Mughals could have gotten awadh.
I’m trying to find a way to reconcile the fact you’ve given of Mughal awadh with the fact you’ve given that the French are allowed to be tax farmers/direct administrators of Bengal and Bihar as far west as Patna- a Mughal emperor with enough military power to control from Delhi to awadh is likely to have taken advantage of European weakness when the British were expelled to push his rule further east into Bengal. Perhaps the French were allowed the opportunity because the emperor was more focused on his western flank (highly likely given the strength of the Marathas and afghans), but that would still suggest to me that during the 1770s-90s ish the emperor was busy trying to assert authority over the rajputs and sindh, before they became French puppets in the 1810s.
There’s therefore a decent chance that pretty much all of the North Indian light blue territories are directly governed by the Mughal administration, just that the head of that administration and his court are dominated by the French. At the very least the “Delhi princely state” would have to include all of modern Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Both of those points give me hope for a resurgent Mughal empire which is able to finally use the old Mughal playbook of creating buy in and incorporating militarily impressive ethnic groups- an alt 1857 leading to a Mughal empire where Franco-Indians play the same role as Rajputs in Akbar or Jahangirs empire, able to reassert control from Bengal to the Carnatic.
The Mughal emperor would also probably appeal to the French to stop the Mysore sultans from using the title of sultan, forcing them to use the title Nawab instead, placing them on equal footing to Hyderabad sovereignty wise, not the emperor.
For one I’d be very interested to see a world where French officials are met with the Raja of Shergar Francis Bourbon, and the place he would claim in the French world. Otl the massive debate between orientalists and evangelists ended up going to the evangelists with the ensuing anglicisation of india- ittl the French officialdom in india, being much more dominated by a feudal nobility, would be much more appreciative of noble titles granted by the Mughal court and with the already existing example of a French dynasty in india might very quickly assimilate to Indo-Persian society. Though Dupleixs replacement in india is before the pod, apparently his stepdaughter Marie was at one point proposed as a bride for the Mughal emperor, which I think is suggestive of the French attitude- successive French governors, aware that their position could be taken away by any royal whim, would find it advantageous to create dynastic ties with local rulers to ensure they remain permanently relevant.
The fact that mention was made of Mughal troops in a confrontation with the sikhs in the 1830s as well is very significant- otl there simply was no Mughal army post 1770, and in the update about the Mysore civil war it says that the Wadiyar exile is kept in house arrest by the Mughals in Awadh- this suggests to me that the Mughal emperor is doing miles better than otl. perhaps the fact that the French retained the northern Circars meant that they were able to aid Shah Alam II at an alt Battle of Buxar, which led to Mughal resurgence and renewed control over Awadh at the very least- Shah Alam and Buxar is the latest point the Mughals could have gotten awadh.
I’m trying to find a way to reconcile the fact you’ve given of Mughal awadh with the fact you’ve given that the French are allowed to be tax farmers/direct administrators of Bengal and Bihar as far west as Patna- a Mughal emperor with enough military power to control from Delhi to awadh is likely to have taken advantage of European weakness when the British were expelled to push his rule further east into Bengal. Perhaps the French were allowed the opportunity because the emperor was more focused on his western flank (highly likely given the strength of the Marathas and afghans), but that would still suggest to me that during the 1770s-90s ish the emperor was busy trying to assert authority over the rajputs and sindh, before they became French puppets in the 1810s.
There’s therefore a decent chance that pretty much all of the North Indian light blue territories are directly governed by the Mughal administration, just that the head of that administration and his court are dominated by the French. At the very least the “Delhi princely state” would have to include all of modern Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Both of those points give me hope for a resurgent Mughal empire which is able to finally use the old Mughal playbook of creating buy in and incorporating militarily impressive ethnic groups- an alt 1857 leading to a Mughal empire where Franco-Indians play the same role as Rajputs in Akbar or Jahangirs empire, able to reassert control from Bengal to the Carnatic.
The Mughal emperor would also probably appeal to the French to stop the Mysore sultans from using the title of sultan, forcing them to use the title Nawab instead, placing them on equal footing to Hyderabad sovereignty wise, not the emperor.
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