Non-European Relations and The Colonies
Further information: Orientalism in early modern FranceFrench colonies multiplied in the Americas, Asia and Africa during Louis's reign, and French explorers made important discoveries in North America. Jolliet and Marquette discovered the Mississippi River in 1673. In 1682, Cavelier de La Salle followed the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the vast Mississippi basin in Louis's name, calling it Louisiane. French trading posts were also established in India at Chandernagore and Pondicherry, and in the Indian Ocean at Île Bourbon.
Meanwhile, diplomatic relations were initiated with distant countries. In 1669, Suleiman Aga led an Ottoman embassy, reviving the old Franco-Ottoman alliance. Then, in 1682, after the reception of the embassy of Mohammed Tenim in France, Moulay Ismail, Sultan of Morocco, allowed French consular and commercial establishments in his country. Louis once again received a Moroccan ambassador in 1699. He also received a Persian embassy led by Mohammed Reza Beg in 1715.
From further afield, Siam dispatched an embassy in 1684, reciprocated by the French magnificently the next year under Alexandre, Chevalier de Chaumont. This, in turn, was succeeded by another Siamese embassy under Kosa Pan superbly received at Versailles in 1686. Louis then sent another embassy in 1687 under Simon de la Loubère, and French influence grew at the Siamese court, which granted Mergui as a naval base to France. However, the death of Narai, King of Ayutthaya, the execution of his pro-French minister Phaulkon and the Siege of Bangkok in 1688 ended this era of French influence.
France also attempted to actively participate in Jesuit missions to China. To break the Portuguese dominance there, Louis sent five Jesuit "mathematicians" (Fontaney, Bouvet, Gerbillon, Le Comte and Visdelou) to the court of the Kangxi Emperor in 1685. Louis also received the visit of a Chinese Jesuit, Michael Shen Fu-Tsung. Furthermore, his librarian and translator—Arcadio Huang was Chinese.
Read more about this topic: Louis XIV Of France
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