French India
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French India is highlighted in light blue on the subcontinent. The other light blue and dark blue holdings represent France's other colonial territories. |
French India is a general name for the former
French possessions in
India. These included
Pondichery,
Karikal and
Yanaon (now, Yañam) on the
Coromandel Coast,
Mahé on the
Malabar coast, and
Chandannagore in
Bengal. In addition there were lodges (
loges) located at
Machilipatnam,
Kozhikode and
Surat, but they were merely nominal remnants of French factories.
The total area amounted to 203 mi² (526 km²), of which 113 mi² (293 km²) belonged to the territory of Pondicherry. In
1901 the total population amounted to 273,185.
The first French expedition to India is believed to have taken place in the reign of
Francis I, when two ships were fitted out by some merchants of
Rouen to trade in eastern seas; they sailed from
Le Havre and were never afterwards heard of. In
1604 a company was granted letters patent by
Henry IV, but the project failed. Fresh letters patent were issued in
1615, and two ships went to India, only one returning.
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French and other European settlements in India. |
La Compagnie française des Indes orientales (
French East India Company) was formed under the auspices of
Cardinal Richelieu (
1642) and reconstructed under
Jean-Baptiste Colbert (
1664), sending an expedition to
Madagascar. In
1667 the French India Company sent out another expedition, under the command of
François Caron (who was accompanied by a Persian named Marcara), which reached
Surat in
1668 and established the first French factory in India. In 1669, Marcara succeeded in establishing another French factory at
Masulipatam. In 1672, Saint Thomas was taken but the French were driven out by the
Dutch.
Chandernagore (present-day Chandannagar) was established in
1673, with the permission of
Nawab Shaista Khan, the
Mughal governor of
Bengal. In 1674, the French acquired Valikondapuram from the Sultan of
Bijapur and thus the foundation of
Pondicherry was laid. By 1720, the French lost their factories at Surat, Masulipatam and Bantam to the British.
On February 4th, 1673, Bellanger, a French officer, took up residence in the Danish Lodge in Pondicherry and the French Period of Pondicherry began. In 1674 Francois Martin, the first Governor, started to build Pondicherry and transformed it from a small fishing village into a flourishing port-town. The French were in constant conflict, in India, with the Dutch and the English. In 1693 the Dutch took over and fortified the town considerably. The French regained Pondicherry in 1699 through the
Treaty of Ryswick signed on September 20, 1697.
Between 1720 and 1741, the objectives of the French were purely commercial. The French occupied Yanam (about 840 km north-east of Pondicherry on Andhra Coast) in 1723, Mahe on Malabar Coast in 1725 and Karaikal (about 150 km south of Pondicherry) in 1739. After 1742 political motives began to overshadow the desire for commercial gain. All factories were fortified for the purpose of defence.
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Maximum extent of French influence 1741-1754 |
In the 18th century the town of Pondicherry was laid out on a grid pattern and grew considerably. Able Governors like
Pierre Christophe Le Noir (1726-1735) and
Pierre Benoît Dumas (1735-1741) expanded the Pondicherry area and made it a large and rich town. Soon after his arrival in
1741, the most famous French Governor of Pondicherry
Joseph François Dupleix began to cherish the ambition of a French Empire in India but his superiors had less interest. French ambition clashed with the British interests in India and a period of military skirmishes and political intrigues began. Under the command of Bussy, Dupleix's army successfully controlled the area between
Hyderabad and
Cape Comorin. But then
Robert Clive arrived in India, a dare-devil British officer who dashed the hopes of Dupleix to create a French Colonial India. After a defeat and failed peace talks, Dupleix was recalled to France.
In spite of a treaty between the British and French not to interfere in local politics, the intrigues continued. Subsequently France sent
Lally Tollendal to regain the French losses and chase the British out of India. After an initial success they razed Fort St. David in
Cuddalore District to the ground, but strategic mistakes by Lally led to the loss of the Hyderabad region, the
Battle of Wandiwash, and the siege of Pondicherry in 1760. In 1761 Pondicherry was razed to the ground in revenge and lay in ruins for 4 years. The French had lost their hold in South India.
In 1765 the town was returned to France after a peace treaty with England in Europe. Governor
Jean Law de Lauriston set to rebuild the town on the old foundations and after five months 200 European and 2000 Tamil houses had been erected. During the next 50 years Pondicherry changed hands between France and Britain with the regularity of their wars and peace treaties.
In 1816, after the conclusion of the
Napoleonic Wars, the five establishments of Pondicherry, Chandranagore, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam and the loges at Machilipattnam, Kozhikode and Surat were returned to France. Pondicherry had lost much of its former glory, and Chandernagore was eclipsed as a trading center by the nearby British establishment of
Calcutta (present-day Kolkata). Successive governors improved infrastructure, industry, law and education over the next 138 years.
By decree of the
January 25,
1871, French India was provided with an elective general council and elective local councils. The results of this measure were not very satisfactory, and the qualifications for and the classes of the franchise were modified. The governor resided at Pondicherry, and was assisted by a council. There were two tribunals of first instance (at Pondichery and Karikal) one court of appeal (at Pondichery) and five justices of the peace. The agricultural produce consisted of rice, earth-nuts, tobacco, betel nuts and vegetables.
The independence of India in August
1947 gave impetus to the union of France's Indian possessions with former
British India. The lodges in
Machilipatnam,
Kozhikode and
Surat were ceded to India in October 1947. An agreement between France and India in
1948 agreed to an election in France's remaining Indian possessions to choose their political future. Governance of Chandernagore was ceded to India on
2 May 1950, and was merged with
West Bengal state on
2 October 1955. On November 1, 1954, after long years of freedom stuggle the four enclaves of Pondicherry, Yanam, Mahe, and Karikal were
de facto transferred to the Indian Union and became the
Union Territory of Pondicherry. The
de jure union of French India with the
Indian Union did not take place until
1963, when the French Parliament in Paris ratified the treaty with India.
Commissaires:
*
François Caron, 1668 - 1672
* François Baron, 1672-1681
*
François Martin, 1681 â€" November 1693
*
Dutch occupation, September 1693 - September 1699 <--
Treaty of Ryswick (1697)
Gouverneur Générals:
*
François Martin, September 1699 -
December 31 1706* Pierre Dulivier, January 1707-July 1708
* Guillaume André d'Hébert, 1708 - 1712
* Pierre Dulivier, 1712 -1717
* Guillaume André d'Hébert, 1717 - 1718
* Pierre André Prévost de La Prévostière, August 1718 â€"
11 October 1721*
Pierre Christoph Le Noir(Acting), 1721-1723
* Joseph Beauvollier de Courchant, 1723 - 1726
*
Pierre Christoph Le Noir, 1726 - 1734
*
Pierre Benoît Dumas, 1734 - 1741
*
Joseph François Dupleix,
January 14 1742 -
October 15 1754*
Charles Godeheu, Le commissaire (Acting), Octobre 15th, 1754 - 1754
* Georges Duval de Leyrit, 1754 - 1758
* Thomas Arthur, comte de
Lally-Tollendal, 1758 â€"
January 16 1761*
British occupation,
January 16 1761 -
June 25 1765 <--
Treaty of Paris (1763)
*
Jean Law de Lauriston*, 1765 - 1766
* Antoine Boyellau, 1766 - 1767
*
Jean Law de Lauriston*, 1767 â€" January 1777
* Guillaume de Bellecombe, seigneur de Teirac, January 1777 - 1982
* Charles Joseph Pâtissier,
Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, 1783 - 1785
* François, vicomte de Souillac, 1785
* David Charpentier de Cossigny, October 1785 - 1787
* Thomas, comte de Conway,(
Thomas Conway) October 1787 - 1789
* Camille Charles Leclerc, chevalier de Fresne,1789 - 1792
* Dominique Prosper de Chermont, November 1792 - 1793
* L. Leroux de Touffreville, 1793
*
British occupation,
August 23 1793 â€" 1802 <--
Treaty of Amiens (1802)
*
Charles Matthieu Isidore, Comte Decaen,
June 18 1802 - August 1803
*
Louis François Binot, 1803
*
British occupation, August 1803 â€" September 1816 <--
Treaty of Paris (1814)
* André Julien, Comte Dupuy,
September 26 1816 â€" October 1825
* Joseph Cordier, October 1825 â€"
June 19 1826* Eugène Panon, Comte Desbassayns de Richemont*, 1826 â€"
August 2 1828* Joseph Cordier,
August 2 1828 â€"
April 11 1829* Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay,
April 11 1829 â€"
May 3 1835* Hubert Jean Victor, marquis de Saint-Simon,
May 3 1835 â€" April 1840
* Paul de Nourquer du Camper, April 1840 - 1844
* Louis Pujol, 1844 - 1849
* Hyacinth Marie de Lalande de Calan, 1849 - 1850
* Philippe Achille Bédier, 1851 - 1852
* Raymond de Saint-Maur, August 1852 - April 1857
* Alexandre Durand d'Ubraye, April 1857 - January 1863
* Napoléon Joseph Louis Bontemps, January 1863 - June 1871
* Michaux, June 1871 - November 1871
* Pierre Aristide Faron, November 1871 - 1875
* Adolph Joseph Antoine Trillard, 1875 - 1878
* Léonce Laugier, February 1879 - April 1881
* Théodore Drouhet, 1881 - October 1884
* Étienne Richaud, October 1884 - 1886
* Édouard Manès, 1886 - 1888
* Georges Jules Piquet, 1888 - 1889
* Louis Hippolyte Marie Nouet, 1889 - 1891
* Léon Émile Clément-Thomas, 1891 -1896
* Louis Jean Girod, 1896 - February 1898
* François Pierre Rodier, February 1898 -
January 11 1902* Pelletan (Acting),
January 11 1902 - 1902
* Victor Louis Marie Lanrezac, 1902 - 1904
* Philema Lemaire, August 1904 - April 1905
* Joseph Pascal François, April 1905 - October 1906
* Gabriel Louis Angoulvant, October 1906 -
December 3 1907* Adrien Jules Jean Bonhoure, 1908 - 1909
* Ernest Fernand Lévecque, 1909 -
July 9 1910* Alfred Albert Martineau,
July 9 1910 - July 1911
* Pierre Louis Alfred Duprat, July 1911 - November 1913
* Alfred Martineau, November 1913 -
June 29 1918 * (unknown),
June 29 1918 -
February 21 1919* Louis Martial Innocent Gerbinis,
February 21 1919 -
February 11 1926 * Pierre Jean Henri Didelot, 1926 - 1928
* Robert Paul Marie de Guise, 1928 - 1931
* François Adrien Juvanon, 1931 - 1934
* Léon Solomiac, Août 1934 â€" 1936
* Horace Valentin Crocicchia, 1936 -1938
* Louis Alexis Étienne Bonvin,
September 26 1938 - 1945
* Nicolas Ernest Marie Maurice Jeandin, 1945 - 1946
* Charles François Marie Baron,
March 20 1946 -
August 20 1947Commissaires:
* Charles François Marie Baron,
August 20 1947 - May 1949
* Charles Chambon, May 1949 -
July 31 1950 * André Ménard,
July 31 1950 - October 1954
* Georges Escargueil, October 1954 -
November 1 1954Note: Here, Persons marked with
*, means that they can be found in french version of this site.
*
French colonial empire*
European colonies in IndiaIndependence Movement
FREEDOM STRUGGLE IN PONDICHERRY[
1]
