French India Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
French India is a general name for the former French possessions in India. They were: Pondichery, Karikal and Yanaon on the Coromandel coast, Mahe on the Malabar coast, and Chandernagore in Bengal. In addition there were a few lodges elsewhere, but they were merely nominal remnants of French factories.The total area amounted to 203 sq. mi, of which 113 sq. mi belonged to the territory of Pondicherry. In 1901 the total population amounted to 273,185.
The first French expedition to India is believed to have taken place in the reign of Francis I, when two ships were fitted out by some merchants of Rouen to trade in eastern seas; they sailed from Le Havre and were never afterwards heard of. In 1604 a company was granted letters patent by Henry IV, but the project failed. Fresh letters patent were issued in 1615, and two ships went to India, only one returning.
La Compagnie des Indes (French East India Company) was formed under the auspices of Cardinal Richelieu (1642) and reconstructed under Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1664), sending an expedition to Madagascar. In 1667 the French India Company sent out another expedition, which reached Surat in 1668, where the first French factory in India was established. In 1672 Saint Thomas was taken, but the French were driven out by the Dutch and retired to Pondicherry (1674). In 1741 Joseph François Dupleix became governor of Pondicherry and in 1744 war broke out between France and England.
By decree of the January 25, 1871, French India was provided with an elective general council and elective local councils. The results of this measure were not very satisfactory, and the qualifications for and the classes of the franchise were modified. The governor resided at Pondicherry, and was assisted by a council. There were two tribunals of first instance (at Pondichery and Karikal) one court of appeal (at Pondichery) and five justices of the peace. The agricultural produce consisted of rice, earth-nuts, tobacco, betel nuts and vegetables.
The independence of India in 1947 gave impetus to the union of France's Indian possessions with former British India. An agreement between France and India in 1948 agreed to an election in France's Indian possessions to choose their political future. The de jure union of French India with the Indian Union did not take place until 1962, although de facto, the bureaucracy had been united with India's in 1954.History