Mahé
Mahé, officially known as
Mayyazhi in the local
Malayalam language, a former
French colony in
India, consists of a small town (9 km
2) in the south of the country, on the
Arabian Sea. The state of
Kerala (or, more specifically, the district of
Kannur) surrounds it on three sides. Administratively, Mahé forms part of the
Union Territory (i.e directly administered by the Union/Federal government of India) of
Pondicherry on the east coast. Mahé has two members (MLAs) in the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly, representing Mahé and Pallur.
At the time of the
2001 census Mahé had a population of 36,823, predominantly speakers of
Malayalam. The original name of Mahé,
Mayyali, means "mouth of the black river".
The name
Mahé originated in honour of
Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, a key architect of French policy in India.
The
French East India Company constructed a fort on the site of Mahé in
1724, after an accord concluded between André Mollandin and the raja Vazhunnavar of
Badagara three years earlier. In
1741, Mahé de La Bourdonnais retook the town after a period of occupation by the
Marathas.
Mayyazhi remained under French jurisdiction until
13 June 1954, when a long independence struggle culminated in its joining the Indian Union.
*
French India*
French East India Company 
