Friendship
with Louis XVI
Louis XVI received Tipu's ambassadors on
3rd August 1788 & professed great friendship for Tipu, but evaded the main issue of an
alliance, as France was on the eve of its great revolution. The
ministry had changed & in the place of Marechal de Castries, who was Tipu's friend,
Comte de La Luzerene, had succeeded who was not for any bold policy. Far from sending more
troops to India he had withdrawn those that were in India to be stationed in the isle of
France. The embassy left Paris in October 1788 & reached Pondicherry in May 1789.
Louis XVI sent his own representative, Macnemera to pay a courtesy call to
Tipu. A few technicians too came from France to help Tipu's industrial program. |
