It was established in 1785 at the initiative of Charles Alexandre de Calonne, and eventually liquidated in 1794 in the turmoil of the French Revolution.
[2] It was given monopoly on all trade with countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope[1]: 192 for an agreed period of seven years.
On 3 April 1790 the monopoly was abolished by an act of the new Constituent Assembly which enthusiastically declared that the lucrative Far Eastern trade would henceforth be "thrown open to all Frenchmen".
When this became known the following year, the resulting scandal led to the execution of key Montagnard deputies like Fabre d'Églantine and Joseph Delaunay, among others.
The infighting sparked by the episode also brought down Georges Danton[4]: 273–274 and can be said to have led to the downfall of the Montagnards as a whole.