FRENCH CONNECTIONS

The French first established their 'loge' in Puducherry in 1674. In 1693, it was captured by the Dutch but restored in 1699 following the Treaty of Ryswick. The Territory thus restored to the French, included Puducherry Fort and its surroundings which were taken possession of by the French after paying the Dutch a sum of 16,000 pagodas which they asserted as having spent for acquiring the areas adjacent to the town.

In 1703, the village of Kalapet was obtained by Franco is Martin from the Nawab Dawood Khan, the representative of Aurangazeb, in order to obtain timber from the forests surrounding it for construction of houses in Puducherry town. The same Nawab ceded the village group of Ozhukarai in 1706, the annual revenue of which amounted to nearly one thousand pagodas, as well as the village groups of Murungapakkam, Olandai, Pakkamudayanpet and Karuvadikuppam. The villages of Theduvanatham and Archivak ( Abhishekapakkam), Odiayambattu and Thirukkanji were given as gift to Dumas by Nawab Sardar Ali in September 1740.

In 1750 following the victory of Ambur, Musafar Jung confirmed the grant of Villiyanur and added 36 villages of Bahur so that the advance posts were brought up to the Ponnaiyar. Since then, the French territories were besieged four times by the English. The first siege, under admiral Boscawen was unsuccessful. The second in 1761, resulted in the capture of the town. Following the Treaty of Paris signed on 10 February 1763, Puducherry and its dependencies which included Ozhukarai, Ariyankuppam, Virampattinam, Murungapakkam, Pakkamudayanpet, Olandai, Abhisekapakkam, Kommapakkam and Kalapet were restored to the French. It was again besieged and captured in 1778 and restored in 1785. It was captured a third time in 1793. Following the Treaty of Peace of 30 May 1814 the establishments were finally restored in 1816. The Treaty of 1814 provided for the restitution of all the settlements and factories which France had possessed in India as on 1 January 1792. These Possessions were determined by the Convention concluded at Versailles on 31 August 1787 and by the Treaties of Peace (Versailles) signed on 3rd September 1783 and previously on 10th February 1763. Thus by the Treaty of 1814, the French were allowed to retain only those areas which were in their possession in 1763.

Since then these establishments continued under French rule for one hundred and thirty eight years, after which the French left the shores on 31 October 1954, following de facto transfer of power. This is also briefly the explanation for the scattered nature of Puducherry and its various enclaves.

Karaikal and its surrounding areas formed part of the Mayuram Subha of Thanjavur country under the first Mahratta ruler Yekoji since 1675.

But soon after the arrival of the French in Puducherry, Francois Martin is known to have sent an envoy to the King of Thanjavur seeking permission to set up an establishment in his kingdom. This as well as the mission sent in 1688 did not bring any success.

In 1738, again Dumas negotiated with Sahuji of Thanjavur for Karaikal, the fortress of Karakalachcheri and five villages on payment of 40,000 chakras. The Conseil Superieur met on 10 July 1738 and approved the treaty. Even before the French could take possession of the town and the villages. Sahuji backed out of his promise on the convenient pretext of Dutch objection. Chanda Saheb in an attempt to demonstrate his allegiance to the French offered to march his own troops upon Karaikal. The troops led by Francisco Pereira, a Spaniard in the Service of Chanda Saheb with French interest at heart, took the town and the fort in no time. Karaikal, the fort of 'Karkalanjeri' and the adjacent territory were made over to the French.

On 14 February 1739, Gratien Golard took possession of Karaikal town, the fort of Karakalachcheri and eight dependent villages. Although Chanda Saheb's Thanjavur expedition did not achieve its purpose, he wished to confirm the grant of Karaikal to the French. This was enough for the King of Thanjavur who raised his prize for the town of Karaikal and the fort of Karakalachcheri to 50,000 chakras. He also demanded a loan of 1,50,000 chakras without interest repayable in three years against the hypothecation of Mayuram lands and an annual rent of 4,000 pagodas for five villages. The Conseil Superieur agreed to all the terms except to the payment of 1,50,000 chakras which was reduced to 10,000 chakras. The villages so received were Kilaiyur, Melaiyur, Pudutturai, Kovilpattu and Tirumalarajanpattinam. The parwana of chanda Saheb dated 1 July 1739 ceded to Dumas, the two villages of Niravi and 'Conde' situated south of Karaikal.

Troubles started again in the Kingdom of Thanjavur, and Sahuji lost his throne in a domestic revolution. Pratap Singh who succeeded to the throne renewed the demand for a loan of 1,00,000 chakras. On receipt of the first instalment of 40,000 chakras, he assigned eight more villages to the French, viz. Codague(Kondagai), Vanjiyur, Arinullimangalam, Niravi, Dharmapuram, Oozhiapattu, Mattakudi(probably Mattalangudi) and Polagam. On 5 January 1740, the village of Arinullimangalam was exchanged for Courtallam (Kutralam). On 12 February 1740 Pratap Singh sold for 60,000 Chakras these eight villages which he had assigned only the previous year for a sum of 40,000 chakras. The same year he pledged Tirunallar maganam for a sum of 55,350 chakras(equivalent to Rs.82,000). He also pledged 33 villages for a sum of 60,000 chakras. In July 1741 a parwana was received from the Mughal Emperor, confirming the right to the French over Karaikal and the five villages.

Relations with the Thanjavur Court, however, became strained shortly after. Nevertheless Febrier, successor to Gratien Golard, managed to exchange 'Codague, Thencoutralam and Mattakudi'. For Kovilpattu, Vadamarakadu, Kilkasakkudi and Talatterevu which increased the number of villages sold from eight to nine. By a treaty signed on 12 January 1750 Pratap Singh ceded to the French 81 villages around Karaikal and cancelled the annual rent of 2,000 pogodas(Rs.7,000) payable for the villages. This was all the territory the French possessed in the Thanjavur country when they surrendered to the English in 1761. The territory then passed twice to English control in 1783 and 1797 after which it came finally restored by John Thackerey, the collector of Thanjavur to Comte de Beranger on 14 January 1817. The French held it until they left the colony in October 1954.

Mahe Region

The name of the region is derived from the regional headquarters. It consists of three entities, i.e., the town of Mahe proper, the small enclave of Kallayi and northern enclave of Naluthara.

The town proper lies south of River Mahe near its juncture with the Arabian sea. The Naluthara enclave lies between the small Ponniyam river on the north and the Kozhikode-Tellicherry road in the south. In between these two lies the small enclave of Kallayi. The entire region is treated as Commune for purpose of municipal administration.

Yanam Region

A parwana from Haji Hassan Khan authorized the French Representative Fouquet, then chief of the Company at Machilipatnam to set up a 'loge' at Yanam in the year 1731. The sovereignty of the French over the territory was confirmed by Musafar Jung, the Nizam of Hydrabad in 1750, The place was formally ceded to them only two years later. Like all other settlements Yanam too fell thrice into the hands of the British. After the Napoleonic wars, Yanam along with the factory at Machilipatnam was finally returned to the French early in 1817.

The five establishments of Puducherry, Chandranagore, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam and the loges at Machilipattnam, Kozhikode and Surat were under French rule since 1816.

In the referendum held on 19 June 1949 the people of Chandranagore overwhelmingly voted for merger with India. On 14 August 1949 on the eve of the second anniversay of India's independence, France agreed to transfer Chandranagore to the Indian Union. The de facto transfer of Chandranagore to the Indian Union took place on 2 May 1950. On 2 February 1951, the Indo-French Treaty for the cession of Chandranagore to India was signed in Paris and an Indian Administrator was appointed to take charge of the town on 2 February 1951.

After almost 300 years of foreign occupation, Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam were united with the rest of the country following an agreement reached on 21 October 1954 between the Governments of India and France. The year 1962 was a landmark in the history of this territory. On 16 August 1962, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India and Mr Jean Paul Garnier, French Ambassador in India exchanged the Instruments of Ratification under which France ceded to India full sovereignty over the territory.

The year 1963 witnessed important changes in the Administrative set-up in the Territory, following the enactment by Parliament of the Govt. of Union Territories Act, 1963 which provided for Legislative Assemblies and Council of Ministers in the Union Territories. The territory, however, continued to be under the direct control of the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs until 31 August 1964 after which it came under the control of Ministry of Home Affairs. At present, Puducherry is the only Union Territory having Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers. This Union Territory is legally administered by the President of India acting through an Administrator called the Lieutenant-Governor.

Lycee Francais

A school for French national is functioning at Puducherry called Lycee Francais, "Le Lycae francais de Puducherry" is the progency of 'College Royal' which was started as early as in 1826. It will suffice to add here that at present classes are conducted from kinder garden level upto Baccalaurcat. English is taught here as second language and Tamil is an optional language. This institute is affiliated to the University of Rennes in France.

Alliance Francaise

Alliance Francaise is an institution devoted to the spread of French language and culture. The Puducherry Branch of Alliance Francaise appears to have been registered in 1894. It is however of some interest to note that when Capitaine E. Martinet came to Puducherry in 1888 to carry out the printing of his dictionary, he was requested by the authorities of Alliance Francaise in France to be its delegate in Puducherry . By the time he left Puducherry in August 1890, there were as many as 370 members with two branches Karaikal and Mahe.

In Puducherry, courses for adults were arranged. Coaching were also available for girls. The first prize-distribution function was held in the presence of the Governor. As students, the institution then counted about hundred adults, forty-five girls from St. Joseph de Cluny and one hundred and fifty girls from the school created by Mme. Martinet.

The institution now arranges regular refresher as well as short term courses for the benefit of children and adults. Students even from far away places come to Puducherry to study the language, as here alone they have the facility to get familiar with the spoken language.