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{{Short description|Former French colony}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name = {{lang|fr|Établissements français dans l'Inde}}
| conventional_long_name = French Settlements in India
| common_name = French India
| image_flag = Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg
| image_coat = Great Seal of France.svg
| empire = France
| status = Colony
| era = Imperialism
| year_start = 1664
| year_end = 1954
| event_start = First [[French East India Company]] Commissioner of [[Surat]]
| date_start =
| date_end = 1 November
| event_end = [[De facto]] transfer
| p1 = French East India Company
| flag_p1 = Drapeau du régiment de la Compagnie des Indes en 1756.png
| s1 = Puducherry (union territory)
| flag_s1 = Flag of India.svg
| s2 = West Bengal
| flag_s2 = Flag of India.svg
| symbol_type = Seal
| image_map = French India 1815.gif
| image_map_caption = French India (shaded in white) after 1815
| capital = [[Pondicherry|Pondichéry]]
| common_languages = [[Indian French|French]] ''(de jure)''<ref>Not as widespread; regional and local as well as English</ref> [[Tamil language|Tamil]] [[Telugu language|Telugu]] [[Malayalam]] [[Bengali language|Bengali]] [[Indian English|English]]
| title_leader = Head of state
| leader1 = King [[Louis XIV of France]]
| year_leader1 = 1664–1715
| leader2 = President [[René Coty]]
| year_leader2 = 1954
| title_representative = Governor
| representative1 = [[François Caron]] {{small|(first)}} <ref>as Commissioner</ref>
| year_representative1 = 1668–1673
| representative2 = Georges Escaragueil <ref>as High Commissioner</ref>
| year_representative2 = 1954
| title_deputy =
| deputy1 = [[Charles François Marie Baron]] {{small|(first)}}
| year_deputy1 =
| deputy2 = Georges Escargueil {{small|(last)}}
| year_deputy2 = 1954
| stat_year1 = 1948
| stat_area1 = 508.03
| stat_year2 = 1929
| stat_pop2 = 288,546
| stat_year3 = 1948
| stat_pop3 = 332,045
| currency = [[Roupie|French Indian Rupee]]
| today = {{flag|India}}
| demonym =
| area_km2 =
| area_rank =
| GDP_PPP =
| GDP_PPP_year =
| HDI =
| HDI_year =
|status_text=Colony of France (1664–1946) [[Overseas territory (France)|Overseas Territory of France]](1946–1954)|legislature=[[Representative Assembly of French India]]|government_type=Colonial Administration}}
{{Colonial India}}

'''French India''', formally the '''{{lang|fr|Établissements français dans l'Inde}}'''{{efn|In France it was popularly known as {{lang|fr|les Comptoirs de l'Inde}}. Strictly speaking though, a {{lang|fr|comptoir}} is a trading station, whereas the five French settlements were entire towns with the surrounding area, and not mere trading stations.}} ({{lang-en|French Settlements in India}}), was a [[Overseas territory (France)|French colony]] comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the [[Indian Subcontinent]] that had initially been [[Factory (trading post)|factories]] of the [[French East India Company]]. They were ''de facto'' incorporated into the [[India|Republic of India]] in 1950 and 1954. The enclaves were {{lang|fr|[[Pondicherry|Pondichéry]]|italic=no}}, [[Karaikal|Karikal]], [[Yanam|Yanaon]] ([[Andhra Pradesh]]) on the [[Coromandel Coast]], [[Mahé, India|Mahé]] on the [[Malabar Coast]] and [[Chandannagar|Chandernagor]] in [[Bengal]]. The French also possessed several {{lang|fr|loges}} ('lodges', tiny subsidiary trading stations) inside other towns, but after 1816, the British denied all French claims to these, which were not reoccupied.

By 1950, the total area measured {{convert|510|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, of which {{convert|293|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} belonged to the territory of {{lang|fr|[[Puducherry (union territory)|Pondichéry]]|italic=no}}. In 1936, the population of the colony totalled 298,851 inhabitants, of which 63% (187,870) lived in the territory of Pondichéry.<ref>Jacques Weber, ''Pondichéry et les comptoirs de l'Inde après Dupleix'', Éditions Denoël, Paris, 1996, p. 347.</ref>

== History ==
{{See also|Franco-Indian alliances|Colonial History of Yanam|History of Puducherry}}
[[File:1751 map of India from "Historical Atlas of India", by Charles Joppen.jpg|thumb|India at the height of French Influence (1751)]]
[[File:Ananda Ranga Pillai.JPG|thumb|A portrait of [[Ananda Ranga Pillai]]]]
[[File:Yanaon.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Colonial [[Yanaon]]]]
[[File:Magasins de la Compagnie des Indes à Pondichéry.jpg|thumb|View of [[Pondicherry]] in the late 18th century]]
[[File:Patna French factory.jpg|thumb|French factory (trading post) at [[Patna]] on the Ganges]]
[[File:Trellis arcade supporting a vine in the Governor's Garden at Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu.jpg|thumb|Governor's Garden at Pondicherry, 18th century]]
[[File:Vue du palais du gouverneur de Pondichery vers 1850.jpeg|thumb|View of the Palace of the Governor of Pondicherry in 1850]]

France was the last of the major European maritime powers of the 17th century to enter the East India trade. Six decades after the foundation of the [[East India Company|English]] and [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch East India]] companies (in 1600 and 1602 respectively), and at a time when both companies were multiplying [[Factory (trading post)|factories]] (trading posts) on the shores of India, the French still did not have a viable trading company or a single permanent establishment in the East.

Historians have sought to explain France's late entrance in the East India trade. They cite geopolitical circumstances such as the inland position of the French capital, France's numerous internal customs barriers and parochial perspectives of merchants on France's Atlantic coast, who had little appetite for the large-scale investment required to develop a viable trading enterprise with the distant East Indies.<ref>Holden Furber, ''Rival Empires of Trade in the Orient, 1600–1800'', University of Minnesota Press, 1976, p. 201.</ref><ref>Philippe Haudrère, ''Les Compagnies des Indes Orientales'', Paris, 2006, p 70.</ref>

The first French commercial venture to India is believed to have taken place in the first half of the 16th century, in the reign of [[Francis I of France|King 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 heard of again. In 1604 a company was granted letters patent by [[Henry IV of France|King Henry IV]], but the project failed. Fresh letters patent were issued in 1615, and two ships went to India, only one returning.<ref name=EB1911/>

''La Compagnie française des Indes orientales'' ([[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, under the command of [[François Caron]] (who was accompanied by a [[Persian people|Persian]] named Marcara), which reached [[Surat]] in 1668 and established the first French factory in India.<ref>{{citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qBZg0OhbiXMC&pg=PA747 | title = Asia in the making of Europe | page = 747}}.</ref><ref>{{citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-08AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA66 | title = The Cambridge history of the British Empire | page = 66}}.</ref>

In 1669, Marcara succeeded in establishing another French factory at [[Masulipatam]]. In 1672, Fort Saint Thomas was taken but the French were driven out by the [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]]. [[Chandernagore]] (present-day Chandannagar) was established in 1692, with the permission of [[Nawab]] Shaista Khan, the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] governor of [[Bengal]]. In 1673, the French acquired the area of Pondicherry from the [[qiladar]] of Valikondapuram under the Sultan of [[Bijapur Sultanate|Bijapur]], and thus the foundation of [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondichéry]] was laid. By 1720, the French had lost their factories at [[Surat]], [[Masulipatam]] and [[Bantam (city)|Bantam]] to the British [[East India Company]].

On 4 February 1673, Bellanger de l'Espinay, a French officer, took up residence in the Danish Lodge in Pondichéry, thereby commencing the French administration of Pondichéry. In 1674 [[François Martin (Pondicherry)|François Martin]], the first Governor, initiated ambitious projects to transform Pondichéry from a small fishing village into a flourishing port-town. The French, though, found themselves in continual conflict with the Dutch and the English. The case of France was upheld for many years at the court of the [[Qutb Shahi dynasty|Sultan of Golconda]], [[Abul Hasan Qutb Shah|Qutb Shah]], by a French Huguenot physician named Antoine d'Estremau. In 1693 the Dutch captured Pondichéry and augmented the fortifications. The French regained the town in 1699 through the [[Treaty of Ryswick]], signed on 20 September 1697.

From their arrival until 1741, the objectives of the French, like those of the British, were purely commercial. During this period, the French East India Company peacefully acquired [[Yanaon (Inde française)|Yanam]] (about {{convert|840|km|mi|disp=or}} north-east of Pondichéry on Andhra Coast) in 1723, [[Mahé, India|Mahe]] on Malabar Coast in 1725 and [[Karaikal]] (about {{convert|150|km|mi|disp=or}} south of Pondichéry) in 1739. In the early 18th century, the town of Pondichéry was laid out on a grid pattern and grew considerably. Able governors like [[Pierre Christophe Le Noir]] (1726–1735) and [[Pierre Benoît Dumas]] (1735–1741) expanded the Pondichéry area and made it a large and rich town.

Soon after his arrival in 1741, the most famous governor of French India, [[Joseph François Dupleix]], began to cherish the ambition of a French territorial empire in India in spite of the pronounced uninterested attitude of his distant superiors and of the French government, which didn't want to provoke the British. Dupleix's ambition clashed with British interests in India and a period of military skirmishes and political intrigues began and continued even in rare periods when France and Great Britain were officially at peace. Under the command of the [[Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau]], Dupleix's army successfully controlled the area between [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] and [[Cape Comorin]]. But then [[Robert Clive]] arrived in India in 1744, a British officer who dashed the hopes of Dupleix to create a French empire in India.

After a defeat and failed peace talks, Dupleix was summarily dismissed and recalled to France in 1754.

In spite of a treaty between the British and French agreeing not to interfere in regional Indian affairs, their colonial intrigues continued. The French expanded their influence at the court of the [[Nawab of Bengal]] and increased their trading activity in Bengal. In 1756, the French encouraged the Nawab ([[Siraj ud-Daulah]]) to attack and take the British [[Fort William (India)|Fort William]] in [[Calcutta]]. This led to the [[Battle of Plassey]] in 1757, where the British decisively defeated the Nawab and his French allies, resulting in the extension of British power over the entire province of Bengal.

Subsequently, France sent [[Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally|Lally-Tollendal]] to recover the lost French possessions and drive the British out of India. Lally arrived in Pondichéry in 1758, had some initial success and razed Fort St. David in [[Cuddalore]] District to the ground in 1758, but strategic mistakes by Lally led to the loss of the [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] region, the [[Battle of Wandiwash]], and the [[siege of Pondicherry (1760)|siege of Pondicherry]] in 1760. In 1761, the British razed Pondichéry to the ground in revenge for the French depredations; it lay in ruins for four years. The French had lost their hold now in South India too.

In 1765 Pondichéry was returned to France in accordance with [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|a 1763 peace treaty]] with [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]]. Governor [[Jean Law de Lauriston]] set to rebuild the town on its former layout and after five months 200 European and 2000 [[Tamil people|Tamil]] houses had been erected. In 1769 the French East India Company, unable to support itself financially, was abolished by the French Crown, which assumed administration of the French possessions in India. During the next 50 years, Pondichéry changed hands between France and Britain with the regularity of their wars and peace treaties.

In 1816, after the conclusion of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the five establishments of Pondichéry, [[Chandernagore]], Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam and the lodges at [[Machilipatnam]], Kozhikode and Surat were returned to France. Pondichéry had lost much of its former glory, and Chandernagore dwindled into an insignificant outpost to the north of the rapidly growing British metropolis of Calcutta. Successive governors tried, with mixed results, to improve infrastructure, industry, law and education over the next 138 years.

By a decree of 25 January 1871, French India was to have an elective general council (''conseil général'') and elective local councils (''conseil local''). 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 Pondichéry and was assisted by a council. There were two ''[[Tribunal d'instance|Tribunaux d'instance]]'' (Tribunals of first instance) (at Pondichéry and Karikal) one ''Cour d'appel'' ([[Court of Appeal (France)|Court of Appeal]]) (at Pondichéry) and five ''Justices de paix'' ([[Justice of the Peace|Justices of the Peace]]). Agricultural production consisted of rice, peanuts, tobacco, betel nuts and vegetables.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=India, French|inline=1}}</ref>

The [[Indian Independence Act 1947|Independence of India]] on 15 August 1947 gave impetus to the union of France's Indian possessions with former [[British India]]. The lodges in [[Machilipatnam]], [[Kozhikode]] and [[Surat]] were ceded to India in October 1947. An agreement between France and India in 1948 agreed to an election in France's remaining Indian possessions to choose their political future. Governance of Chandernagore was ceded to India on 2 May 1950, then it was merged with [[West Bengal]] state on 2 October 1954. On 1 November 1954, the four enclaves of Pondichéry, Yanam, Mahe, and Karikal were ''de facto'' transferred to the Indian Union and became the [[Union Territory]] of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]. The ''de jure'' union of French India with India did not take place until 1962 when the [[Parliament of France|French Parliament]] in [[Paris]] ratified the treaty with India.

== List of French establishments in India ==
{{Further|Municipal administration in French India}}
{{Location map+|India|width=300|float=right
|alt=French India
|caption=<center>French establishments and loges as of 1947 {{legend inline|green|[[Bengal]]}} {{legend inline|blue|[[Coromandel coast]]}} {{legend inline|gold|[[Gujarat]]}} {{legend inline|red|[[Malabar coast]]}} {{legend inline|black|[[Orissa Province|Orissa]]}}</center>
|places=
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=11.911082|lon_deg=79.812533|position=right|mark=Blue_pog.svg|marksize=12|label='''Pondichéry'''}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=10.932701|lon_deg=79.831853|position=right|mark=Blue_pog.svg|marksize=12|label='''Karikal'''}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=16.17|lon_deg=81.13|position=right|mark=Blue_pog.svg|label=Masulipatam}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=11.701111|lon_deg=75.536667|position=right|background=white|mark=Red_pog.svg||marksize=12|label='''Mahé'''}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=11.25|lon_deg=75.77|position=right|mark=Red_pog.svg|label= Calicut}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=22.87|lon_deg=88.38|position=left|mark=Green_pog.svg|marksize=12|label='''Chandernagore'''}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=24.12|lon_deg=88.28|position=left|mark=Green_pog.svg|label=Cassimbazar}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=22.2517546|lon_deg=88.4331189|position=left|mark=Green_pog.svg|label=Jugdia}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=23.7|lon_deg=90.366667|position=right|background=white|mark=Green_pog.svg|label=Dacca}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=21.49|lon_deg=86.93|position=left|mark=Green_pog.svg|label=Balasore}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=25.6|lon_deg=85.1|position=left|mark=Green_pog.svg|label=Patna}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=21.17024|lon_deg=72.831061|background=white|position=left|mark=Gold_pog.svg|label=Surat}}
{{Location map~|India|lat_deg=16.733333|lon_deg=82.216667|position=left|mark=Black_pog.svg|marksize=12|label='''Yanaon'''}}
}}

The French establishments of India are all located in the [[Indian peninsula]]. These establishments are<ref>Chapitre II, Notices statistiques sur les colonies françaises, 1839.</ref>

# On the [[Coramandel coast]],
#* '''[[Pondicherry|Pondichéry]]''' and its territory comprising districts of Pondichéry, Villenour and Bahour;
#* '''[[Karaikal|Karikal]]''' and its dependent maganams, or districts.
# On the coast of [[Orissa, India|Orissa]],
#* '''[[Yanaon]]''' and its territory comprising dependent aldées or villages;
#* The [[Masulipatam]] loge.
# On the [[Malabar coast]],
#* '''[[Mahé, India|Mahé]]''' and its territory;
#* The [[Calicut]] loge.
# In [[Bengal]],
#* '''[[Chandannagar|Chandernagor]]''' and its territory;
#* The five loges of [[Cossimbazar|Cassimbazar]], [[Jugdia]], [[Dacca]], [[Balasore]] and [[Patna]].
# In [[Gujarat]],
#* [[Surat]] factory.

The name 'loge' was given, under the regime of the French East India company, in factories or insulated establishments consisting of a home with an adjacent ground, where France had the right to fly its flag and to form trading posts.

<gallery class="center" widths="200px">
File:Pro-merger movement of French Settlements in India 1954.jpg|Pro-merger movement of French Settlements in India, 1954
File:Dupleix meeting the Soudhabar of the Deccan.jpg|[[Joseph François Dupleix|Dupleix]] meeting the Soudhabar of the [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan]], [[Murzapha Jung]]
File:Suffren meeting with Haider Ali, 26 july 1782 engraved by J B Morret 1789.jpg|[[Pierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez|Suffren]] meeting with ally [[Hyder Ali]] in 1782, J. B. Morret engraving, 1789
File:French India postage stamps.jpg|French India postage stamps
File:Fiebig Government House Chandernagore.jpg|Chandernagor's Government House c. 1850
</gallery>

==List of chief governing officers==


=== Commissioners ===
* [[François Caron]], 1668–1672
* François Baron, 1672–1681
* [[François Martin (Pondicherry)|François Martin]], 1681 – November 1693
*'' Dutch occupation, September 1693 – September 1699 — '''[[Treaty of Ryswick]]''' (1697)

===Governors===
In the days of the French East India Company, the title of the top official was most of the time Governor of Pondicherry and General Commander of the French settlements in the East Indies ({{lang-fr|Gouverneur de Pondichéry et commandant général des établissements français aux Indes orientales}}). After 1816, it was Governor of French establishments in India ({{lang-fr|Gouverneur des établissements français de l'Inde'}}).

* [[François Martin (Pondicherry)|François Martin]], September 1699 – 31 December 1706
* [[Pierre Dulivier]], January 1707 – July 1708
* [[Guillaume André d'Hébert]], 1708–1712
* [[Pierre Dulivier]], 1712–1717
* [[Guillaume André d'Hébert]], 1717–1718
* [[Pierre André Prévost de La Prévostière]], August 1718 – 11 October 1721
* [[Pierre Christoph Le Noir]] (Acting), 1721–1723
* [[Joseph Beauvollier de Courchant]], 1723–1726
* [[Pierre Christoph Le Noir]], 1726–1734
* [[Pierre Benoît Dumas]], 1734–1741
* [[Joseph François Dupleix]], 14 January 1742 – 15 October 1754
* [[Charles Godeheu]], Le commissaire (Acting), 15 October 1754 – 1754
* [[Georges Duval de Leyrit]], 1754–1758
* [[Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally]], 1758 – 1761 January 1761
* First British occupation, January 15, 1761 – June 25, 1765 — [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]]
* [[Jean Law de Lauriston]], 1765–1766
* [[Antoine Boyellau]], 1766–1767
* [[Jean Law de Lauriston]], 1767 – January 1777
* Second British occupation, 1778 – 1783 – [[Peace of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris (1783)]]
* [[Guillaume de Bellecombe|Guillaume de Bellecombe, seigneur de Teirac]], January 1777 – 1778
* [[Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau|Charles Joseph Pâtissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau]], 1783–1785
* [[François de Souillac|François, Vicomte de Souillac]], 1785
* [[David Charpentier de Cossigny]], October 1785 – 1787
* [[Thomas Conway|Thomas, comte de Conway]], October 1787 – 1789
* [[Camille Charles Leclerc, chevalier de Fresne]], 1789–1792
* [[Dominique Prosper de Chermont]], November 1792 – 1793
* L. [[Leroux de Touffreville]], 1793
* Third British occupation, 23 August 1793 – 18 June 1802 — [[Treaty of Amiens]] (1802)
* [[Comte Decaen|Charles Matthieu Isidore]], Comte Decaen, 18 June 1802 – August 1803
* [[Louis Binot|Louis François Binot]], 1803
* Fourth British occupation, August 1803 – 26 September 1816 — [[Treaty of Paris (1814)]]
* [[Comte Dupuy|André Julien Comte Dupuy]], 26 September 1816 – October 1825
* [[Joseph Cordier]], Marie Emmanuel (Acting), October 1825 – 19 June 1826
* [[Eugène Desbassayns de Richemont]], 1826 – 2 August 1828
* [[Joseph Cordier]], Marie Emmanuel (Acting), 2 August 1828 – 11 April 1829
* [[Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay]], 11 April 1829 – 3 May 1835
* [[Hubert Jean Victor, Marquis de Saint-Simon]], 3 May 1835 – April 1840
* [[Paul de Nourquer du Camper]], April 1840 – 1844
* [[Louis Pujol]], 1844–1849
* [[Hyacinthe Marie de Lalande de Calan]], 1849–1850
* [[Philippe Achille Bédier]], 1851–1852
* [[Raymond de Saint-Maur]], August 1852 – April 1857
* [[Alexandre Durand d'Ubraye]], April 1857 – January 1863
* [[Napoléon Joseph Louis Bontemps]], January 1863 – June 1871
* [[Antoine-Léonce Michaux]], June 1871 – November 1871
* [[Pierre Aristide Faron]], November 1871 – 1875
* [[Adolph Joseph Antoine Trillard]], 1875–1878
* [[Léonce Laugier]], February 1879 – April 1881
* [[Théodore Drouhet]], 1881 – October 1884
* [[Étienne Richaud]], October 1884 – 1886
* [[Édouard Manès]], 1886–1888
* [[Georges Jules Piquet]], 1888–1889
* [[Louis Hippolyte Marie Nouet]], 1889–1891
* [[Léon Émile Clément-Thomas]], 1891–1896
* [[Louis Jean Girod]], 1896 – February 1898
* [[François Pierre Rodier]], February 1898 – 11 January 1902
* [[Louis Pelletan]] (Acting), 11 January 1902
* [[Victor Louis Marie Lanrezac]], 1902–1904
* [[Philema Lemaire]], August 1904 – April 1905
* [[Joseph Pascal François]], April 1905 – October 1906
* [[Gabriel Louis Angoulvant]], October 1906 – 3 December 1907
* [[Adrien Jules Jean Bonhoure]], 1908–1909
* [[Ernest Fernand Lévecque]], 1909 – 9 July 1910
* [[Alfred Albert Martineau]], 9 July 1910 – July 1911
* [[Pierre Louis Alfred Duprat]], July 1911 – November 1913
* [[Alfred Albert Martineau]], November 1913 – 29 June 1918
* [[Pierre Étienne Clayssen]] (acting), 29 June 1918 – 21 February 1919
* [[Louis Martial Innocent Gerbinis]], 21 February 1919 – 11 February 1926
* [[Henri Léo Eugène Lagroua]] (Acting), 11 February 1926 – 5 August 1926
* [[Pierre Jean Henri Didelot]], 1926–1928
* [[Robert Paul Marie de Guise]], 1928–1931
* [[François Adrien Juvanon]], 1931–1934
* [[Léon Solomiac]], August 1934 – 1936
* [[Horace Valentin Crocicchia]], 1936–1938
* [[Louis Alexis Étienne Bonvin]], 26 September 1938 – 1945
* [[Nicolas Ernest Marie Maurice Jeandin]], 1945–1946
* [[Charles François Marie Baron]], 20 March 1946 – 20 August 1947

French India became an [[Overseas territory (France)|Overseas territory]] ({{lang-fr|territoire d'outre-mer}}) of France in 1946.

===Commissioners===
* [[Charles François Marie Baron]], 20 August 1947 – May 1949
* [[Charles Chambon]], May 1949 – 31 July 1950
* [[André Ménard]], 31 July 1950 – October 1954
* [[Georges Escargueil]], October 1954 – 1 November 1954

French India ''[[de facto]]'' transferred to the [[India|Republic of India]] in 1954.

===High Commissioners===
{{See also|List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry}}
The first High Commissioner, Kewal Singh was appointed immediately after the ''Kizhoor referendum'' on 21 October 1954 as per Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947.<ref name="ref2004"/>{{rp|964}} The Chief Commissioner had the powers of the former French commissioner, but was under the direct control of the Union Government.<ref name="reference1963">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7We3DQAAQBAJ|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1963: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of all nations|work=S. Steinberg|publisher=MACMILLAN&Co.LTD, London|year=1963}}</ref>{{rp|198}}

The list of Chief Commissioners is given below<ref name="ref2004">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DFqbAAAAMAAJ|title=Cabinet Responsibility to Legislature|work= G. C. Malhotra|publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat|year=2004}}</ref>{{rp|977}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! {{Abbr|No.|Number}}
! Name
! class=unsortable | Took office
! class=unsortable | Left office
|-
| 1 || {{Sortname|Kewal |Singh}}
| 21 October 1954 || 16 November 1956
|-
| 2 || {{Sortname|M.K.|Kripalani}}<ref name="ref1958">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_0mAQAAIAAJ|title=Civil Affairs|volume=5|publisher=Monthly Journal of Local Govt. and Public Administration in India|year=1958}}</ref>{{rp|103}}
| 17 November 1956||27 August 1958
|-
| 3 || {{Sortname|Lal Ram Saran|Singh}}<ref name="reference1960">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7We3DQAAQBAJ|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1960: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of all nations|work=S. Steinberg|publisher=MACMILLAN&Co.LTD, London|year=1960}}</ref>{{rp|197}}
| 30 August 1958||8 February 1961
|-
| 4 || {{Sortname|Sisir Kumar|Dutta}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6NbMDQAAQBAJ|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1963: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of all nations|work=S. Steinberg|publisher=MACMILLAN&Co.LTD, London|pages=474–475|year=1963}}</ref>
| 2 May 1961||1 August 1963
|-
| 5 || {{Sortname|K.J.|Somasundaram}}
| 2 August 1963||13 October 1963
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|France|India|History}}
* [[Apostolic Prefecture of French Colonies in India]] (Catholic mission)
* [[British Raj]]
* [[Colonialism in India]]
* [[Coup d'état of Yanaon]]
* [[Danish India]]
* [[Dutch India]]
* [[Municipal administration in French India]]
* [[Portuguese India]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* Sudipta Das (1992). ''Myths and realities of French imperialism in India, 1763–1783''. New York: P. Lang. {{ISBN|0820416762}}. 459pp.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|French India}}
*[https://frenchbooksonindia.com/ Frenchbooksonindia.com, an open access multilingual discovery tool with book data from 1531 to 2020, full-text ebooks from 1531 to 1937 and in-text search from c. 1830 to c. 1920]
* [[V. Sankaran]], [http://pib.nic.in/feature/feyr98/fe0898/f1808986.html ''Freedom struggle in Pondicherry''] – Gov't of India publication

{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Former French colonies}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:French India| ]]
[[Category:1769 establishments in French India]]
[[Category:1954 disestablishments in French India]]
[[Category:Colonial India]]
[[Category:Colonial Kerala]]
[[Category:Former colonies in Asia]]
[[Category:Former countries in South Asia]]
[[Category:France–India relations]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1769]]

French India - Revision history

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← Older revision		Revision as of 10:15, 1 April 2026
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	* [[Charles Chambon]], May 1949 – 31 July 1950		* [[Charles Chambon]], May 1949 – 31 July 1950
	* [[André Ménard]], 31 July 1950 – October 1954		* [[André Ménard]], 31 July 1950 – October 1954
	* [[Georges Escargueil]], October 1954 – 1 November 1954		* Georges Escargueil, October 1954 – 1 November 1954

	French India ''[[de facto]]'' transferred to the [[India\|Republic of India]] in 1954.		French India ''[[de facto]]'' transferred to the [[India\|Republic of India]] in 1954.

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:20, 14 August 2023
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	== See also ==		== See also ==
	~~{{Portal\|France\|India\|History}}~~
	* [[Apostolic Prefecture of French Colonies in India]] (Catholic mission)		* [[Apostolic Prefecture of French Colonies in India]] (Catholic mission)
	* [[British Raj]]		* [[British Raj]]