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.
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.
Édouard Goubert was mayor and first chief minister of Pondicherry between 1 July 1963 and 11 September 1964. Initially a strongly pro-French leader, he later shifted towards the pro-merger Indian National Congress, which ultimately became the death knell for the sovereignty of France's comptoirs in India. He and Lambert Saravane founded the French India Socialist Party in July 1947.
Kamisetty Sri Parasurama Varaprasada Rao Naidu, popularly known Kamisetty Parasuram Naidu, was an Indian politician who served as the Speaker of Puducherry legislative assembly from 1985 to 1989. He also served as its first Deputy Speaker from 1963 to 1964 and later in another term from 1972 to 1974 He was a member of the legislative assembly (MLA) of Puducherry from 1964 until his death in 1989. He A government high school in Yanam was named after him.
The Puducherry Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian union territory (UT) of Puducherry, which comprises four districts: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahé and Yanam. Out of eight union territories of India, only three have legislatures and they are Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. After delimitation shortly after its formation, the Puducherry legislative assembly has 33 seats, of which 5 are reserved for candidates from scheduled castes and 3 members are nominated by the Government of India. 30 out of 33 Members are elected directly by the people based on universal adult franchise and the remaining three are nominated by the central government. These nominated members enjoy the same powers as elected members of the assembly.
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.
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, 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 French community in India consists mainly of Indian citizens of French ancestry who are descended from former French settlers and colonists who settled in the Indian subcontinent since the 17th century, as well as recent expatriates from France.
Yanam is a legislative assembly constituency in the Union territory of Puducherry in India, covering the area of Yanam. Yanam assembly constituency was part of Puducherry.
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.
Moti K. Kripalani, ICS, was an Indian civil servant who went to serve as Chief Commissioner of Ajmer and Pondicherry.
