Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry, gained its significance as "the French Riviera of the East" after the advent of French colonialisation in India. Puducherry is the Tamil interpretation of "new town" and mainly derives from "Poduke", the name of the marketplace or "port town" for Roman trade in the 1st century, as mentioned in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea.[4] The settlement was once an abode of learned scholars versed in theVedas, hence it was also known as Vedapuri.[5]
The history of Puducherry can broadly be classified into two periods: pre-colonial and colonial. The pre-colonial period started with the reign of thePallavas, who ruled the empire from 325 to 900, after which came theChola dynasty, from 900 to 1279, and thePandya dynasty, from 1279 to 1370. During the 14th century, the city was under the rule of Naikship of Gingee of theVijayanagara Empire, from 1370 to 1614, when it was conquered by theSultan of Bijapur, who ruled it from 1614 to 1638. It was during this period that Portuguese and Danish merchants used it as a trading center.
The colonial period began with the Portuguese, the first Europeans to conduct trade in textiles, in 1521, and subsequently, the Dutch and the Danes in the 17th century.
The prospering trade of Puducherry attracted the French, and the predominant feature of the town was laid by the French pioneerFrançois Martin in the form of a French settlement, in 1674. In 1693, Puducherry was captured by the Dutch and subsequently restored in 1699, with theTreaty of Ryswick.
The French acquiredMahé in 1720,Yanam in 1731, andKaraikal in 1738. The British captured the city from the French but returned it following the Treaty of Paris, in 1763. This Anglo-French war continued until 1814, where France found itself in control of the settlements ofPuducherry, Mahé, Yanam, Karaikal, andChandernagor, even during the British period, until 1954. It was a reign of 138 years under the French, who on 31 October 1954 left Indian shores following a de facto transfer of power.
Poduke orPoduca (marketplace) was a Roman trading destination from the third century BCE.[6]Poduca has been identified as possibly beingArikamedu (now part ofAriyankuppam), located about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the modern city of Pondicherry. The area was part of the Pallava Kingdom ofKanchipuram in the 4th century. The Cholas ofThanjavur held it from the 10th to the 13th centuries, until it was replaced by thePandya Kingdom, in the 13th century. TheVijayanagar Empire took control of almost all of southern India in the 14th century and maintained control until 1638, when they were supplanted by theSultan of Bijapur.
In 1674, the French East India Company set up a trading centre at Pondicherry, and this outpost eventually became the chiefFrench settlement in India. The French governorFrançois Martin made remarkable improvements to the city and its commercial ties, facing at the same time strong opposition from the Dutch and the English. He entered into extended negotiations with the sultans ofGolconda through the intercession of several roving French merchants and doctors who were in favour with the sultan. Trading in jewellery and precious stones, which had become highly fashionable in European courts, was one among many activities. Five trading posts were established along the south Indian coast between 1668 and 1674. The city was separated by a canal into the French Quarter and the Indian Quarter.[7]
On 21 August 1693, during theNine Years' War, Pondicherry was captured by the Dutch. The governor ofDutch Coromandel, Laurens Pit the Younger, sailed with a fleet of seventeen ships and 1,600 men fromNagapattinam and bombarded Pondicherry for two weeks, after which Francois Martin surrendered it. At the Peace of Ryswick, it was agreed by all parties to return conquered territories, and in 1699, Pondicherry was handed back to the French.[8]
On 16 January 1761, the British captured Pondicherry from the French, but it was returned under the1763 Treaty of Paris, at the conclusion of theSeven Years' War.[9] The British took control of the area again in 1793, at theSiege of Pondicherry, amid the Wars of theFrench Revolution, and returned it to France in 1814.
Prime Minister Nehru visiting Pondicherry a few months after thede facto transfer
On 18 March 1954, a number of resolutions were passed by the municipalities in Pondicherry, demanding an immediate merger with India. Some days later, similar resolutions were passed by the municipalities in Karaikal. The resolutions had the full support of the French Indian Councillors, popularly known as ministers, and the president of the representative assembly. These municipalities represented roughly 90% of the population of the French possessions, and they called upon the government of France to take urgent and necessary measures to give effect to the wishes of the people.[10] The government of India had made it clear that the cultural and other rights of the people would be fully respected. They were not asking for the immediate transfer ofde jure sovereignty of France. Their suggestion was that ade facto transfer of the administration should take place immediately, while French sovereignty should continue until the constitutional issue had been settled. Both India and France would have to make necessary changes in their respective constitutions. All this would take time, while the demand of the people was for an immediate merger without a referendum. The government of India was convinced that the suggestion which they made would help to promote a settlement, which they greatly desired.[10]
On 18 October 1954, in a general election involving 178 people in municipal Pondicherry and the Commune of Panchayat, 170 people were in favour of the merger, and eight people voted against. Thede facto transfer of the French Indian territories from French governance to the Indian union took place on 1 November 1954 and was established as the union territory ofPondicherry. The treaty effecting thede jure transfer was signed in 1956. However, due to opposition in France, the ratification of this treaty by the French National Assembly did not take place until 16 August 1962.
1954 French ID, issued in Pondicherry before transfer
Thetopography of Pondicherry is the same as that of coastalTamil Nadu. Pondicherry's average elevation is atsea level and includes a number of sea inlets, referred to locally as "backwaters". Pondicherry experiences extremecoastal erosion as a result of abreakwater constructed in 1989,[11] just to the south of the city. Where there was once a broad, sandy beach, now the city is protected against the sea by a 2-km-longseawall that sits at a height of 8.5 m above sea level. Whilst there was an early seawall made by the French government in 1735, this was not "hard structure coastal defence" so much as an adjunct to the old shipping pier and a transition from the beach to the city.[12]
Today, the seawall consists of rows of granite boulders reinforced every year in an attempt to stop erosion. As a consequence of the seawall, there is severe seabed erosion and turbulence at the coastal margin, resulting in an extremeloss of biodiversity within the criticalintertidal zone. Whenever gaps appear as the stones fall into the continually eroding seabed, the government adds more boulders. Pondicherry's seawall has also caused beach erosion to migrate further up the coast, to the fishing villages in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu to the north of the city.[13]
The climate of Pondicherry is classified by theKöppen climate classification as atropical savanna climate, similar to that of coastal Tamil Nadu.[14] This is specifically the dry-winter type (Aw), bordering on the dry-summer type (As) due to March having the lowest average rainy days of 0.7 and an average rainfall of 18.5 mm (0.73 in). Summer lasts from March to early June, and maximum temperatures may reach 41 °C (106 °F) between April and June. The average maximum temperature is 36 °C (97 °F). Minimum temperatures are in the order of 28–32 °C (82–90 °F). This is followed by a period of high humidity and occasional thundershowers, from June until September.
Thenortheast monsoon sets in during the middle of October, and Pondicherry gets the bulk of its annual rainfall during the period from October to December. Smaller amounts of rainfall also come from thesouthwest monsoon, between June and September. The annual average rainfall is 1,355 millimetres or 53 inches.[15] The dry season is between January and June, with February having the least average rainfall of 16.9 mm (0.67 in). Winters are very warm, with highs of 30 °C (86 °F) and lows often dipping to around 18–20 °C (64–68 °F).
In 2012, theMinistry of Power inaugurated the "Smart Grid" project in Puducherry.[19] Farming around Pondicherry includes crops such as rice, pulses, sugarcane, coconuts, and cotton.In 2016, the Pondicherry State Government Employees Central Federation presented a status paper on the fiscal and social crisis in Puducherry to Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh. The report stated that a "combination of a staggering debt, stagnant tax revenues and rampant misappropriation of funds has throttled the economy of the Union Territory" and called for measures on a war footing to "deliver good governance and end corruption".[20]
According to the2011 census of India, Pondicherry had a population of 244,377, with 124,947 females and 119,430 males. It had an average literacy rate of 80.6%, with male literacy at 84.6% and female literacy at 76.7%. Ten per cent of the population was under six years of age.[1]
The city of Puducherry comprises two municipalities,Puducherry andUzhavarkarai. Both the municipalities and thecommune panchayats in the Union Territory of Puducherry function under the administrative control of the local administration department.[22] The Puducherry municipality, under the Puducherry district, comprises the former communes of Puducherry and Mudaliarpet, with its headquarters in Puducherry. It has a total of 42 wards spread over an area of 19.46 km2 (7.51 sq mi).[23] Wards 1–10 are north of the city; wards 11–19 are inBoulevard Town, and the remaining wards are southwest of the city centre.[24]
There are two proposals by the Puducherry government, firstly to merge Pondicherry andOulgaret municipalities and upgrade the Pondicherry municipality into a '"municipal corporation", and secondly to upgradeVillianur andAriyankuppam commune panchayats into municipalities, which would increase the Pondicherry region's urban area around 155 km2 (60 sq mi) of the total 292 km2 (113 sq mi).
Pondicherry is a tourist destination. The city has many colonial buildings, churches, temples, and statues which, combined with the town planning and French-style avenues in the old districts, still preserve much of the colonial ambiance.
While the sea is a draw for tourists, Pondicherry no longer has the sandy beaches that once graced its coastline.[32] The breakwater to the harbour and other hard structures constructed on the shore caused extreme coastal erosion, and the sand from Pondicherry'sPromenade Beach has disappeared entirely. As a result of the city's seawall andgroyne construction, the beaches further up the coast to the north have also been lost. An enormous deposition of sand has accrued to the south of the harbour breakwater, but this is not a large beach and is not easily accessible from the city.[32][33]
The government has taken steps to construct a reef and re-dose the sand. The sea is accessible by a small patch of land at Promenade Beach (Goubert Avenue).[34] Moreover, the beach is one of the cleanest in India and has been selected forBlue Flag certification.[35]
Visitors at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram
TheSri Aurobindo Ashram, located on Rue de la Marine, is one of the most importantashrams in India, founded by thefreedom fighter and spiritual philosopherSri Aurobindo.[36]Auroville (City of Dawn) is an "experimental" township located 8 km (5.0 mi) northwest of Pondicherry.
There are a number of old and large churches in Pondicherry, most of which were built in the 18th and 19th centuries. A number of heritage buildings and monuments are present around Promenade Beach, such as the Children's Park and Dupleix Statue, Gandhi statue, Nehru statue, Le Café, French War Memorial, 19th Century Light House, Bharathi Park, Governors Palace,Romain Rolland Library, Legislative Assembly,Pondicherry Museum, and theFrench Institute of Pondicherry at Saint Louis Street.
Puducherry Botanical Gardens is located south of the New Bus Stand. Chunnambar Backwater resort is 8 km (5.0 mi)from Pondicherry, along Cuddalore Main Road. This tropical resort is flanked by a creek on one side.
Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Devasthanam on Manakula Vinayagar Street is a Hindu temple to Ganesha. Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple was in existence before the French came and settled in Pondicherry in 1666.[37]
Sengazhuneer Amman atVeerampattinam village is one of the oldest temples in Pondicherry, situated about 7 km (4.3 mi) away from the city centre. The car festival conducted in mid-August is famous in Puducherry and other neighbouring states. The festival takes place on the fifth Friday since the commencement of the Tamil month of 'Aadi' every year.[38]
Thirukaameeswarar Temple is located in a rural town calledVillianur,[39] located about 10 km (6.2 mi), towards Villupuram.
Pondicherry struggles with a high poverty rate,[40][41] issues of women's safety,[42][43], inadequate road infrastructure,[44][45], dirty beaches,[46][47][48], lack of sewage infrastructure,[49][50] air pollution,[51] and sex crimes.[52][53][54] Bureaucrats, including former lieutenant governorKiran Bedi, have accused local administrative officers of neglecting proper administration and of corruption.[55]
^ab"District Census Handbook: Puducherry"(PDF).Census of India. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. pp. 86–87. Retrieved11 February 2019.
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