Pondicherry History

Pondicherry History

Pondicherry was originally a village of weavers and fishermen. The known history of Pondicherry dates back to the beginning of our era, when Pondicherry had a flourishing maritime history. Excavations at Arikamedu, about 7 km to the south of the town, show that Romans came here to trade in the 1st Century AD.

The trade included dyed textiles, pottery and semi-precious stones. The findings are now displayed in the Pondicherry Museum. Ancient Roman scripts mention one of the trade centers along the Indian coast as Poduca or Puduke, which refers, historians affirm, only to the present Pondicherry.

Before this period nothing is known with certainty. The “Bahur Plates”, issued in the 8th century speak of a Sanskrit University which was here from an earlier period. Legend associates Pondicherry town with the Sage Agastya, who traveled from the north and established his Ashram here, at Agatiswaram. An inscription found near the Vehapuriswara Temple hints at the credibility of this legend.

At the beginning of the fourth century A.D., this area was a part of the Pallava Kingdom of Kanchipuram, and was occupied by different dynasties of the south until the 10th century A.D.

The Cholas of Tanjavur took over, only to be replaced by the Pandya Kingdom in the thirteenth century. After a brief invasion by the Muslim rulers of the North, who established the Sultanate of Madurai, the Vijayanagar Empire took control of almost all the South of India and lasted till 1638, when the Sultan of Bijapur began to rule over Gingee.

The Portuguese established a factory in Pondicherry at the beginning of the 16th century, but were compelled to leave a century, but were compelled to leave a century later by the ruler of Gingee, who found them unfriendly. After that the Danes shortly set up an establishment, and likewise the Dutch – the latter set up trading posts in Porto Novo and Cuddalore. The French, who had trading centres in the North, Mahe and Madras, were invited to open a trading centre in Pondicherry by the new ruler of Gingee to compete with the Dutch.

There is an amusing story behind the name, Pondicherry like most other Indian place names. In tamil ‘Puducherry.’ Means ‘new village’, but the French spelt it ‘Poudicherry’. Later, the hand-written ‘u’ was mistaken for a ‘n’, and the misspelling ‘Pondicherry’ stuck.

In 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.

In 1693 the Dutch took over and fortified the town considerably. But four years later Holland and France signed a peace treaty and the French regained Pondicherry in 1699. In the 18th century the town was laid out on a grid pattern and grew considerably.

Able Governors like Lenoir (1726-1735) and Dumas (1735-1741) and an ambitious Governor Dupleix (1742-1754) expanded the Pondicherry area and made it a large an rich town. But ambition clashed with the English interests in India and the local kingdoms and a period of 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 officer who dashed the hopes of Dupleix to create French Colonial India. After a defeat and failed peace talks, Dupleix was recalled to France.

In spite of a treaty between the English and French not to interfere in local politics, the intrigues continued. Subsequently France sent Lally Tollendal to regain the French losses and chase the English out of India. After an initial success they razed Fort St. David in Cuddalore to the ground, but strategic mistakes by Lally led to the loss of the Hyderabad region 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 has lost their hold in south India.

In 1765, the town was returned to France after a peace treaty with England in Europe. Governor 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 England with the regularity of their wars and peace treaties.

The French regained permanent control of Pondicherry only after 1816, but the town had lost much of its former glory. Successive Governors improved infrastructure, industry, law and education. In 1974, the English left India for good, but the French handed Pondicherry over to an independent India only in 1954.

On November 1, 1954, the French possessions in India were de facto transferred to the Indian Union and Pondicherry become a Union territory. But only in 1963 did Pondicherry officially in Paris ratified the Treaty with India.