The French East India Company was founded in 1664 to compete with British and Dutch trading companies in Asia. It was established through the merging of three earlier French companies and was granted a monopoly on French trade east of the Cape of Good Hope for 50 years by King Louis XIV. The company established ports and trading settlements in India but also struggled financially at times due to a lack of royal support and competition from other European powers. It was finally dissolved in 1794 after the French Revolution abolished the company's trading monopolies.