 |
  | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 12,864 (1988) [1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| French people |
| Part of a series of articles on the |
| French people |
|---|
 |
The French community in India consists mainly of Indian citizens of French ancestry who are descended from former French settlers and colonists who settled in India since the 17th century, as well as recent expatriates from France.
The French in India are an artifact of the French presence there, which began in 1673 with the establishment of the French East India Company and continued until 1962 when the French territory was formally transferred to India. The French presence was always minor compared with the British presence, and the French in India were generally not a significant portion of the population.
There were 9,950 French nationals residing in India in 2013. [2] Nearly all are in the Puducherry district in southeastern India (11,726 individuals in 1988), with much smaller numbers in Karaikal (695 individuals), Mahé (50), Yanam (46), and 342 elsewhere in India. They form a small minority, accounting for less than 3 percent of the present population of Puducherry.
Indian French (French : français Indien) is a dialect of French spoken by Indians from the former colonies of French India; [3] namely Pondicherry (Pondichéry), Mahé, Yanam (Yanaon), Karaikal (Karikal) in the union territory of Puducherry (Poudouchéry) and the Chandannagar (Chandernagor) subdivision in the state of West Bengal. It has considerable influence from English and the regional languages of India, such as the Dravidian languages of Tamil (Pondicherry Tamil dialect), Telugu (Yanam Telugu dialect) and Malayalam (Mahé Malayalam dialect) and the Indo-Aryan language of Bengali in Chandannagar.
There are several varieties of Indian French, corresponding to the former French colonies, as follows:
Indian French spoken in former French India vaguely varies from Standard French, in pronunciation and accent, with a few unique words, such as:
| Indian French | Metropolitan French | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|
| Mérci beauco | Merci beaucoup | Thank you very much |
| Mousé | Monsieur | Mister/Sir |
| Madam | Madame | Madam/Ma'am |
| Locaele | Locale | Local |
| Perme | Fermer | Close |
| Parlama | Parlement | Parliament |
| Baccaloria | Baccalauréat | Baccalauréat (French secondary school diploma) |
| Sulda | Soldat | Colloquially: Indians with French citizenship Literally: Soldier |
| Coseiyya | Conseiller | Councilor |
Today, Pondicherry still has a community of French people living in the city and French is also an official language. There are 6,500 French people registered in South India, and of these about 5,500 are in Pondicherry.
French companies in India are present in various sectors such as energy, IT, environment, automobiles, traditional manufacturing industries like St Gobain, and engineering. They also have exporters of fish and other seafood, textiles, leather and luxury goods. L’Oréal has a presence in India, and Louis Vuitton has taken a stake in Hidesign in Pondicherry. [4]
The French community in India is a consolidated group, brought together by a number of different organizations that aim to promote French culture in India. The French Club of Bombay is an organization that unites French speakers living in the city. The club meets at different locations in various parts of Mumbai so that meetings are conveniently located and have a good attendance. [5]
In February 2015, the Indo French Senior Citizens Association staged street protests in Pondicherry to protest against denial of the French nationality and voting rights derived from the "treaty of cession" of French India territories, which guaranteed continued French citizenship to individuals whose birth and nativity certificate had been registered during the French India regime. [6]
Puducherry, also known as Pondicherry, is a union territory of India, consisting of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India, namely Pondichéry, Karikal (Karaikal), Mahé and Yanaon, excluding Chandannagar (Chandernagore), and it is named after the largest district, Puducherry, which was also the capital of French India. Historically known as Pondicherry, the territory changed its official name to Puducherry on 1 October 2006.
Karaikal is a town of the Indian Union Territory of Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by the Rajah of Thanjavur and became a French Colony in 1739. The French held control, with occasional interruptions from the British, until 1954, when it was de facto incorporated into the Republic of India, along with Mahé, Yanaon, and Pondichéry.
French India, formally the Établissements français dans l'Inde, was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were de facto incorporated into the Republic of India in 1950 and 1954. The enclaves were Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanam on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagor in Bengal. The French also possessed several loges inside other towns, but after 1816, the British denied all French claims to these, which were not reoccupied.
Yanam is a town located in the Yanam district in Puducherry. It has a population of 35,000 and is entirely surrounded by Andhra Pradesh. It was formerly a French colony for nearly 200 years, and, though united with India in 1954, is still sometimes known as "French Yanam". It possesses a blend of French culture and the Telugu culture, nicknamed Frelugu. During French rule, the Tuesday market at Yanam was popular among the Telugu people in the Madras Presidency, who visited Yanam to buy foreign and smuggled goods during Yanam People's Festival held in January. After implementation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 in British India, Telugu people often traveled to Yanam to conduct child marriages, which remained legal under the French administration.
Pondicherry, now known as Puducherry, is the capital and most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of India and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east and the state of Tamil Nadu, with which it shares most of its culture, heritage, and language.
The Pondicherry Municipal Council is the municipality of Pondicherry, India. Pondicherry has had a French system of municipal administration since 1880 and till the last poll held in 1968. Recently, in 2006 again municipal elections were held.
Though the French established colonies in India in the 17th century itself, it was not until the end of the 19th century they started civil administration in French India.
Karaikal district is one of the four districts of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India.
The Coup d'état of Yanaon (Yanam) was a tense but ultimately non-lethal political coup at Yanam, India, in 1954. It occurred as India and France held ongoing negotiations regarding the future of French settlements in India. Yanam, along with Pondicherry, Karikal, and Mahé, was one of four small French colonial enclaves remaining in India after its 1947 independence from Britain. Though widely separated along both of India's coasts, the towns were collectively known as Pondicherry [Fr: Pondichéry; mod. India: Puducherry], after the largest of the settlements.
The City of Puducherry on the southeast coast of India does not have a recorded history from antiquity. Puducherry has history recorded only after the advent of the colonial powers such as the Dutch, Portuguese, English and the French. Nearby places such as Arikanmedu, Kakayanthoppe, Villianur, and Bahur, which were annexed by the French East India Company over a period of time and became the Union Territory of Puducherry after Independence, have written histories that predate the colonial era.
The official standing of languages in Puducherry is governed by the 1963 assembly resolution to continue French as official language and the subsequent Pondicherry Official Language Act, 1965 which states under the heading "Official language of the Union territory" that Tamil is the language to be used for all or any official purposes in the Union Territory, while Malayalam and Telugu may be used in Mahé and Yanam respectively. The Act also stipulates that English may be used for any of the official purposes of the Union territory.
Yanaon was one of the five principal settlements of French India between 1731 and 1954. It was referred to in British records as Yanam.
The municipalities of Puducherry include five administrative municipalities in the Union Territory of Puducherry, India. The territory had French system of municipal administration from 1880 through 1968, when it was reformed.
The Puducherry Police is the law enforcement agency for the Union Territory of Puducherry in India.
The first election to the Representative Assembly of French India was held on 15 December 1946 to constitute the First Representative Assembly of French India. The election included Pondichéry, Karaikal, Chandernagor, Mahé and Yanaon. The election was won by the National Democratic Front of Deiva Zivarattinam, that won 30 out of 44 seats.
The Treaty establishing De Jure Cession of French Establishments in India was a treaty signed between France and India in 1956 that ceded French territories in India to the Republic of India.
Maurice Paquirissamypoullé, or Paquirissamy-Poullé, was a rice trader and politician from the colony of Karaikal in French India. He represented the colony in the Council of the Republic from 1947 until 1955, when his seat was dissolved following the union with India. He did what he could to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
In 1946, French India became Overseas territory of France. Then, in the same year on 25 October, the Representative Assembly of French India of 44 members has been created that replaced the general council of 30 members.
After the merger of French settlements into an Indian union, a new assembly, named the Pondicherry Representative Assembly, was created by the government of India. After the "de facto transfer day" of 1 October 1954, before 16 August 1962 also referred to as "de-jure transfer day". During this transition period, general elections to the representative assembly were held in 1955 and 1959. After the de-jure transfer day, legal integration of French settlements into the Indian Union was complete. However, this assembly, like its predecessor, was advisory in its role, which led to frequent contention between the popular government and the chief commissioner.
The union territory of Puducherry has five official names, expressing its linguistic diversity, past-French heritage and legacy of British India. French, Tamil, English, Telugu and Malayalam are five official languages of Puducherry. The later two are official only in Yanam and Mahe respectively.
| Immigration to India | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relevant issues and events | |||||||||
| Africa | |||||||||
| Asia |
| ||||||||
| Europe | |||||||||
| North America | |||||||||
| Oceania | |||||||||
| South America | |||||||||
| See also | |||||||||
