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CHAPTER – I

Introduction

When India won independence in 1947 a great part of India made up of French

and Portuguese colonies as well as princely states, remained outside the authority of

the newly independent republic. The integration of these territories into the Indian

Union was to prove one of the prickliest political problems facing the new

government. If the Second World War accelerated the withdrawal of Great Britain

from India, it also had a decisive impact upon the French settlements in India, which,

during the past centuries, had been maintained under the shadow of the British Raj.

The departure of the British and the great upsurge for the end of colonies everywhere

impelled the French government to have a realistic look at the matter of their

settlements in India. They faced a giant and completely independent neighbour,

headed by Jawaharlal Nehru whose views on colonialism and his support for anti-

imperial movements in Indo-China and North Africa were well known. Under this

new circumstance, France soon realized the impossibility of collaboration with

independent India and continuing at the same time their territorial holdings in India.

In August 1947 the governments of India and France issued a joint declaration in

favour of a friendly settlement of problems related to the French settlements in India.

Since then, negotiations between the French and Indian governments over the future

of French Indian settlements were prolonged and often stormy. On 19th June 1948, the

governments of France and India agreed, by an exchange of letters, to let the

population of these settlements decide about their future by a free referendum. Thus

both the governments in 1948 affirmed that the future of these settlements could be

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and should be sorted out by an expression of the popular will and by means of

negotiations.

Subsequent to the 1948 agreement, the growth of popular will in the French

Indian settlements resulted in the emergence of a new and important dimension in the

diplomatic negotiations between France and India. Popular sentiment in favour of

merger with Indian Union, though real, was less unanimous especially in the four

south Indian French settlements. There were three views proposed by various sections

of the population for different reasons: (i) The French possessions must continue

under the rule of France; (ii) The French possessions must merge with independent

India; and (iii) The French possessions must be a separate entity and a separate

country. Political ideologies and factions were built around these views and local

political movements for ‘pro-merger’ and ‘anti-merger’ gained momentum during

1948-1952. Two main factions involved in the agitation on the merger issue were

described as ‘pro-mergerists’ and ‘anti-mergerists’. The local political elite, as

“representatives” of “the people,” in conjunction with foreign policies and national

interests had the potential to influence and push people of these territories to decide

either against joining India or in favour of joining the Indian Union. The merger

politics brought into existence a crop of new political parties that aroused every kind

of political frenzy and personal passion, thereby divided the people by driving them

towards hostile camps. The shifting alignments resulted in power politics as political

elite attempted to gain authority or retain their political power and to safeguard their

personal interests they had been enjoying for quite sometime. In the competition

among elite groups to gain control over men and matter, political parties vied with

each other to achieve their ends by manipulating the elections through falsification of

the electoral lists and corruption of all sorts, backed by money and muscle.

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The present work explains how electoral politics was manipulated by the

different political factions to construct and articulate different positions concerning

the merger of French settlements with Indian Union. While highlighting the facts

neglected hitherto in the history of decolonisation of French India and identifying the

political elite who strove to create a separate identity for French India, the thesis

analyses the ideological, political and personal motivations of the elite. Ultimately the

problem of French India was resolved by the governments of India and France

through diplomatic negotiations.

Society and Politics in French India: Merger and Anti-merger Alignments

sketches the colonial history of French India from the 1870 to 1954. A brief study of

the political developments in French India during 1870 and 1946 is undertaken as this

period witnessed a series of experimental measures introduced in French India as a

part of the French colonial policy which attempted to link the colony with

metropolitan France. From 1947 onwards politics in the colony revolved around the

question of merger of French Indian settlements with the Indian Union, forming of

merger and anti-merger alignments, conflict between the various interest groups and

Indo-French relations. An in-depth study on the merger problem covers the period

from 1947 to 1954.

The objectives of the present study are: (i) To explore the emergence of

electoral politics, social stratification and labour unrests and the growth of anti-

French sentiments in French India; (ii) To narrate the circumstances that led to

complications in Indo-French relations regarding the future status of French India;

(iii) To examine the Indian experience of French decolonisation; (iv) To analyse the

formation of political parties and the merger and anti-merger alignments; (v) To

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investigate conflicts between the merger and anti-merger groups and (vi) To provide a

critique of Jawaharlal Nehru’s policy towards French Indian settlements.

The thesis follows an analytical and interpretative methodology. The

researcher utilised all the available documentation of Indian views to analyse the

merger politics. The facts and chronology regarding the political developments were

collected and counter verified through oral interviews with participants in the merger

politics. Maps, tables, graphics, diagrams and surveys were prepared using scientific

tools. The findings of the researcher are presented keeping in mind the verification

and authenticity of the documents, a critical analysis of the sources and an objective

historical explanation in a rigorous pursuit of truth.

Some terms and concepts used in the thesis have to be mentioned in order to

make the thesis a source of clear communication of ideas put forward by the

researcher. One of the most commonly used terminology “assimilation” means the

processes by which two different cultures fuse together, culturally, intellectually and

politically so that social assimilation becomes the end result. Assimilation is a process

by which the coloniser and colonised become accustomed to each other’s cultural

influences. Normally the colonisers being dominant impart their culture to the

colonised. “Political assimilation” in the context of the thesis is used to denote the

colony’s relationship with the métropole. For good or ill, granting the natives voting

rights and political representation in metropolitan bodies necessitated the French to

maintain a relationship with the local population in such a way that the need to be free

from their rule was never felt by the later. “Colonialism” is a term referred in the

thesis to denote the imposed, alien and authoritarian regimes on subordinate

(colonised) societies. These regimes tended to train some of their subjects (including

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natives) in bureaucratic management and required passive acquiescence from the

remainder.

The concept of political elite is often used in the thesis. The political elite in

French India, who were the products of colonial era, aspired for political leadership

and dreamed of playing a major role in the affairs of the colony. They came from

different social, economic and political background and rose above the masses by

placing themselves in the rank of colonial society. They exploited mass voters and

manipulated the colonial political institutions to serve their purpose. This concept of

elite politics does not preclude the role of ideas; many men were inspired, stirred into

action by some great ideas, but they are all aimed at gaining power, if only to

implement their ideas. The terms pro-mergerists and merger alignment refer to the

persons and groups who opposed the continuance of French rule and stood for merger

of the French Indian settlements with the Indian Union. Anti-mergerists and anti-

merger alignment refer to the persons and groups of people who stood for the

continuance of French sovereignty in India as part of the French Union and opposed

the merger of the French Indian settlements with the Indian Union.

Literature on French decolonization in India has attracted scholarly attention

since the publication of Les Carnets secrets de la décolonisation, 2 vols, (1965) by

Georges Chaffard, the first study on the subject. Chaffard has made a general survey

of the circumstances leading to the withdrawal of France from her Indian colonies.

Jacques Weber’s, Les établissements français en Inde au XIXe siècle (1816-1914), 5

volumes (1988), deserve special mention. In this important study of 19th century

French India, the author elaborately discusses the French Third Republic’s

assimilation policy and its impact on the Indian colonies. The policy brought drastic

6

changes in the colonial society and led to conflicts in the traditional political system

ruled by religion and caste. While studying all the aspects of this confrontation,

Weber notes that the métropole (France) made a bad choice because it attempted

assimilation in India like in other colonies by institutions and not by culture. Imperial

Burdens Countercolonialism in Former French India (1995) by William F. S. Miles,

explores the modern-day legacy of French colonialism in India. By focusing on the

French citizens living in Pondicherry due to a defective process of decolonisation in

which colonial subjects were permitted to retain the citizenship of the decolonising

power even while retaining residence in the decolonised country, the author concludes

that France’s commitment to her citizens in India is a case of counter colonial

relationship that inordinately benefits the former colonised vis-à-vis the former

colonisers, with problematic consequences for both. Pondichéry et les comptoirs de

l’Inde après Dupleix la démocratic au pays des castes (1996) by Jacques Weber, is

the first attempt to provide a comprehensive history of French India in the 19th and

20th centuries. He has also given exhaustive bibliographical material that provides any

research scholar with a valuable guide to sources and places where source material

can be had for the French studies. In the context of the history of decolonisation of

French India, Ajit K. Neogy’s, Decolonization of French India, Liberation Movement

and Indo-French Relations 1947-1954 (1997), deals with the complex problem of

decolonisation of French India. The author makes use of an impressive array of

documents from various repositories in France and India and elaborately discusses the

liberation movement and diplomatic efforts of the Indian and French governments.

Elizabeth Ezra’s fascinating study of The Colonial Unconscious: Race and Culture in

Interwar France (2000), maps the pervasive influence of racist ideology on French

cultural constructions of the nation during the interwar period. She explores both the

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attraction and repulsion of what she terms “Colonial Unconscious” to the “foreign”

which foreclosed the possibility of the very assimilation it invited. Freedom

Movement in French India: The Mahe Revolt of 1948 (2001) by J.B.P. More, gives a

detailed study regarding the various events leading to the emergence of nationalism,

the resulting freedom struggle in Mahe and the actors involved in it. The Mahe revolt

of 1948 against the French regime under the French Governor François Charles Baron

has been highlighted as the greatest manifestation of nationalism in Mahe. The role of

nationalist leaders of Mahe like I.K. Kumaran and P.K. Usman is highlighted. Besides

these, many autobiographical accounts and first person narratives relating to the

merger movement in French India appeared in the recent past. A major problem in

their accounts is reliability as they all try to accommodate themselves in the general

events of history for reasons of personal glory and present survival.

While Martin Deming Lewis’s article One Hundred Million Frenchmen: the

“Assimilation” theory in French colonial Policy (1962) remains the most

comprehensive treatment of the subject of ‘assimilation’ and the French colonial

project under the Third Republic, Les socialistes français et le problème colonial

entre les deux guerres: 1919-1939 (1968) by Manuela Semidei, explores the

ambiguous attitude of French socialists to colonial problems and their hostility

towards overseas nationalist movements which originated during the period 1920-

1939. A recent article, L’Inde française en sursis 1947-1954 (1991) by Patrick

Pitoëff, adds a new dimension, by highlighting the disastrous impact of the incoherent

policy of competing ministries in Paris on the problem of decolonisation of French

India.

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The sources used to write the thesis include primary materials from archives,

museums and private collections. The National Archives of India at New Delhi

provided with the materials relating to French rule in the five settlements. The records

of the Indian government (both British and independent) pertain to Foreign

Department (1900-1936), Home Political (1927-1936), Home Department (1939-

1946), Ministry of Home Affairs (1939-1946) and External Affairs (1913-56). The

researcher explored new sources in the archives especially the fortnightly reports of

Indian Consul General at Pondicherry, which helped the researcher to reconstruct day

to day events of French India. The Zone Centre of documentation under the National

Archives of India at Lawspet, Puducherry (Pondicherry) provided the R.L.

Purushothama Reddiar Papers (1934-1964) and Saraswathi Subbiah Papers (1936-

1995). In addition to these the Journal officiel and Procès-verbaux de l’Assemblée

Représentative (Pondichéry) from 1900 to 1954 have been consulted. Nehru

Memorial and Museum Library (manuscript section) at New Delhi provided the O.P.

Ramaswamy Reddiar Papers (1935-50) and Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru. The

State Archives and Museum, the Romaine Rolland library, the Institut Français de

Pondichéry, Bharathiyar and Bharathidasan Memorial Libraries and research centres

at Puducherry yielded the 19th and 20th century’s journals, pamphlets and leaflets

relating to the present research. Interviews conducted by the researcher of various

veterans of merger movement of Puducherry, Karaikal and Mahe was utilised to

countercheck facts and chronology. Documents in their possession and other private

persons were also collected. Apart from these primary materials the researcher has

used a plethora of secondary sources.

The present thesis consists of seven chapters, The Introduction which forms

Chapter 1 attempts to delineate the nature of the French settlements in India

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collectively called French India. French settlements in India were an artefact put

together piece by piece over the 17th and 18th centuries by the French administrators.

Successive wars with England saw French settlements changed hands several times,

until it was finally and definitively restored to France in 1816. Once French ambition

of building a colonial empire in India was completely destroyed by the British they

were restricted to these small territories and compelled to be subservient to the British

and later to the Indian administration until their merger with the Indian Union in

1954. French India was composed of five clearly distinct geographical regions divided

by great distances as well as being internally crosscut by Indian territories.

Pondicherry itself was twelve pieces of land separated by Indian territory. Karaikal

and Mahe were patchworks of three discontinuous pieces of land. Added to

geographical disunities were their linguistic, social, economic and cultural diversity,

sharing nothing beyond their common French colonial status. These anomalies of

French India placed France at a position of disadvantage even increasingly more so

after India’s independence in 1947.

Chapter II examines the emergence of electoral politics in French India under the

Third Republic. Under the Third Republic, the idea of gradual ‘assimilation’ (both

cultural and political) of colonies with France was regarded as the true goal of its

colonial administration. As a result of the aggressive policy of Republican France

towards political assimilation, French India was endowed with a Député to the French

Chambre and a Sénateur to the French Sénat. Towards the local reforms a Conseil

colonial (in 1879 this Conseil was replaced by a Conseil général), Conseils locaux

and Municipalities were established in all the five settlements. All the members to

these bodies were elected through Universal Manhood Franchise by the two lists of

voters, one for native Indians and another for Europeans and their descendents. One

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of the results of electoral politics introduced in French India was the rise, in the late

nineteenth century, of ‘political elite’. Political life in the colony began to centre on

the conflicts headed by the political elite and subsequently saw many political

regimes. Political activities in the colony got a jolt at the beginning of First World

War. A new consciousness was permeating among the students, workers and common

people in the colony. The growth of consciousness among the working class

population came in the form of labour disturbances in 1920s and 1930s. These

consciousnesses were later converted into anti-French sentiments. The anti-French

upsurge was essentially generated by the political and social changes introduced in the

traditional way of life under the impact of the colonial policy of ‘assimilation’. The

problems emerging under this impact, such as dissatisfaction with the existing

political and social order and the introduction of new and conflicting values, later on

proved conducive to the growth of anti-French feelings.

Chapter III deals with post war reforms and the merger issue. World War II was

truly global; the chief colonial powers suffered disastrous setbacks. The war offered a

suitable opportunity for demanding autonomy or even independence. Political

concessions and reforms were a by-product of World War II. The attitude of the

French Indians at the war time surprised the French administration and quickened its

readiness for reforms. In keeping with the Fourth Republic’s policy towards the

colonies, in French India the French Governor and the authorities followed a policy of

introducing a series of administrative reforms from October 1946 and September

1947. Britain’s announcement (20th February 1947) of granting independence to India

had its repercussions in French India and it provoked a change in the political thinking

and situation in the French Indian settlements. An important question arose in the

minds of people of French India. If India would attain its independence what would

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be the political future of French India? The question of future of French India came to

be viewed from two different perspectives. On the one hand, French Indians,

ethnically, socially, culturally and economically were having close ties with Indians,

even though politically they were separated for about two and a half centuries. On the

other hand, the French rule had considerable influence in the linguistic, social and

cultural life of French Indians, who enjoyed manifold privileges like democratic

institutions, administration, law, justice and education under French rule.

India wanted to merge these territories with the Indian Union. France took a

political stand of continuation of French rule as an integral part of overseas France.

After diplomatic negotiations, because of the French constitutional obligations, both

India and France agreed to settle this issue through conducting a referendum in

French India by giving a free choice to the people of these territories. The uncertain

political future of these territories virtually divided the population and political elite

into two blocs one for pro-merger cause and another against the merger of these

territories with Indian Union and resulted in clashes and conflicts between pro-merger

and anti- merger groups. This uncertainty coupled with self interests of the political

elite, eventually put the issue live for a long time.

Chapter IV analyses merger and anti-merger alignments. Different political

parties of French India held different views on the merger issue. The French India

National Congress and different wings of the Indian National Congress, the Indian

government firmly behind it, wanted immediate merger of the five French settlements

with the Indian Union and even to unite these territories with the adjacent Indian

districts. They considered that no referendum was necessary for this purpose. The

French India Socialist Party advocated autonomy within the French Union so as to use

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it as a bargaining chip in holding power in its hands. It was ready to go for a

referendum, if necessary, on this issue. Members of the party wanted to maintain

French India’s separate identity, The India Unionil Sera Maruppor Kazaham (an

association of those who were against merger with the Indian Union) which adopted

the ideology of the Dravidian movement in south India held a different view. It

demanded autonomous status for French India within the French Union for the time

being in order to prevent its merger with the Indian Union, so that when Dravidasthan

becomes a reality, French India can merge with it. The French India Communist Party

expressed its opinion that French India should get independence from the French rule

first, and then by stages should decide whether to join the Indian Union or not. It felt

that the government of India under Nehru was anti-Communist and pro-Anglo-

American. This ideological difference led the French India Communist party to

support the Dravidian point of view. Naturally the merger and anti-merger alignments

were formed. The pro-merger groups placed before the people the spirit of Indian

nationalism and the ideal of complete merger of these settlements with Indian Union.

The anti-merger groups feared that French India would lose its separate identity in the

mass of 400 million Indian populations once they joined the Indian Union. Their

deepest wish was undoubtedly for autonomy which would maintain the special Indo-

French characteristics of this micro-society as well as their own hold over it.

Chapter V narrates the political manoeuvres and the barren years of Indo-

French relations. Chief among the anti-merger groups which, following the Indo-

French agreement of June 1948, came to power through Municipal elections and sat in

a newly configured Assemblée Représentative, was the French India Socialist Party

led by Franco-Indian Edouard Goubert. Goubert and his group claimed political

majority and entered into political manoeuvres to get from the French and Indian

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governments “clarifications” as to the status that the French settlements could expect

from the nation they might choose to join. France expressed its desire to obtain “a

large measure of autonomy” for French India within the frame work of French Union.

The government of India affirmed its earlier stand on the merger of foreign territories

with the Indian Union. Some understanding was reached between Nehru and Goubert.

Nehru agreed to safeguard the political interests of Goubert’s men in the future

course. After some manoeuvres on the part of French authorities, the French India

Socialist Party changed its political stand and openly called upon the people to accept

the French offer of autonomy within the framework of French Union and postponed

the referendum indefinitely.

When, the diplomatic negotiations between the French and Indian

governments failed to result in an overall settlement and the tie between Nehru and

the ruling clique Goubert was broken, India applied economic and strategic pressures.

This included a blockade of goods coming into French settlements, prevention of free

movement of population into and out of the settlements, and the erection of a barbed

wire fence around the settlements of Pondicherry and Karaikal. These harsh measures

imposed hardship to the people, and Nehru’s policy earned much criticism. At this

juncture, the demand for merging the French settlements with Indian Union without

referendum was voiced, and with the passage of time it gained currency.

Chapter VI explores the merger movement and the transfer of power. The

clashes between pro-mergerists and anti-mergerists and the growing violence in

French Indian settlements created a situation not conducive to conducting a

referendum. Moreover, both French and Indian governments tried to internationalise

the French India problem and blamed each other for the present state of relations

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between the two governments. The Indo-French diplomatic relations came to an

impasse. At the end of 1952 Nehru called an end to the plebiscite. The merger leaders

set up their camps for anti-French activities on the border villages of Pondicherry,

Karaikal and Mahe along with the pro-mergerists and refugees. India sought their co-

operation for the integration of the settlements with Indian Union without referendum.

The government of India lent material and moral support to the leaders of the merger

movement, and publishers of the local press exhorted their support to mobilise the

population and to inculcate in them nationalistic sentiments towards merger.

Throughout 1953 the mass movement for the cause of merger continued to rock the

French Indian settlements. The French Indian authorities retaliated by adopting

repressive measures and encouraging the anti-merger elements to terrorise the pro-

mergerists and their supporters. By the end of 1953, an all party conference was

organised under the stewardship of the French India Communist Party for united

action among all the pro-merger elements and to accelerate the phase of the merger

movement. France tried to recoup the pro-French sentiments by granting huge

financial aids to French India. The Indian government too started pressurising the

French Indian administration by tightening its customs, stopping power supply and

reducing the quantity of food supply from India to the French Indian settlements. The

merger movement reached a new dimension in 1954. The French India Socialist Party

under the leadership of Edouard Goubert until now enjoyed manifold privileges -

social recognition, political status and economic opulence - and acted as a stooge of

French India administration. Following the hostility between their leaders and French

Indian administration (on the alleged misdeeds of the Socialist leaders) the party soon

withdrew from its pro-French stand. Early in 1954, the Socialists changed their

political stand towards India by demanding the ouster of the French rule and

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immediate merger of the settlements with the Indian Union without the formality of

referendum.

Increasing pressure from India, internal pressure from pro-mergerists and the

election of Socialist leader Pierre Mendès France as President of the French Republic,

were all coincided to bring about France’s capitulation to India’s demands for merger

without referendum. For the sake of form, France did succeed in gaining a vote on the

question of sovereignty by the elected members (Municipal councils, Mayors and

Assemblée Représentative) of French India. On October 1954, Kijéour convention

was held in which 170 out of 178 representatives of the people (previously elected on

anti-merger platforms) voted for the merger of the French Indian settlements with the

Indian Union. The agreement for the de facto transfer of the French colonies to the

Indian Union was signed in New Delhi on 21st October 1954. On 1st November 1954,

the components of French India came under the de facto administration of the Union

of India.

The Conclusion which forms chapter VII sums up the chief arguments, and

findings of the present research work. The process of decolonization of French India,

often described as the “freedom movement” and “liberation movement,” in the local

context was expressed in the form of ‘merger movement’ of these settlements with the

Indian Union. Pro-merger sentiment in the French Indian settlements, though real,

was less unanimous especially in the four south Indian French settlements. Definitely,

there were anti-merger sentiments in the colony which crystallized into an anti-merger

group. The role of political elite in the movements was inevitable; they took full

advantage of this situation and began to flirt with both India and France hoping to

enjoy the best of both the worlds, and they delayed the conclusion. Like the pro-

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merger movement which sprang into action under the patronage of Indian

government, the anti-merger movement in the settlements were forged into a strong

platform for rallying the French citizens of French India around Edouard Goubert.

The merger movement in the settlements was week and disunited and its only source

of its strength was the support with Indian government: The defection in 1954 of the

Socialist leaders who finally changed their stand for the merger gave a new impetus to

the pro-merger movement and quickened the process of merger of the French

settlements with the Indian Union. Besides, the French India Socialist Party which

finally shifted its position, the Franco-Indian community and the Muslims of French

India remained pro-French under Du Tamby’s Democratic Party. Though the problem

of French India was resolved by diplomatic negotiations between India and France,

the way it was resolved proved that both the governments had failed to gain the

complete confidence or unanimous sentiments of the local population. As far as the

Indo-French relation is concerned, the question of French India was settled peacefully

by averting the dangerous path of clash and conflict.

The French Comptoirs

The French Comptoirs (trading settlements) in India comprised Pondicherry,

Karaikal, Mahe, Yanam, Chandernagore and eight other loges situated along the two

coasts of Indian sub-continent collectively called French India. Its administrative and

formal political unity masked enormous geographical, economic, ethnic, linguistic,

social and cultural diversities of the regions. The French settlements in India covered

an area about 200 sq. miles, had a population of 3,62,045,1 remained as an artificial

construct and shared nothing beyond their common colonial status. As a consequence

of Anglo-French rivalry in India and in Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth

1 In 1948 (Journal officiel des etablissements français dans l’Inde, p.366-369).

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centuries, these settlements changed hands several times in accordance with the

changing fortunes of war. The Peace Treaty of 20th November 1815, which was

concluded after the final defeat of Napoleon, paved the way for the restitution of the

settlements. The treaty forced the French to recognize British paramountcy over all

parts of India and prohibited them to fortify any of their settlements, or to maintain

troops beyond the requirements of police duty. Thus the French were restricted to

these territories and their ambition of building a colonial empire in India was

completely destroyed by the British. Even though the treaty was concluded in 1815,

the French settlements and loges in India were finally restored to the French only in

the year 1817.2 The Commercial Treaties of 7th March 1815 and 13th May 1818

between the British and French in India reduced the French rights to the supply of

opium from Chandernagore and took away the monopoly over salt production in the

French Indian settlements. In return an annual indemnity of 4000 Pagodas (34.580

Francs) was to be paid by the British to the French. At last the French remained in a

few small, scattered and undefended Indian possessions as ‘a piece of souvenir of

their political adventures in the Indian sub-continent’ and ‘they remained because one

does not wish to loss the gain obtained at a discount of sacrifices made earlier.’3

Geographical Features

Pondicherry, the capital of French India, is situated on the Coromandel coast,

143 kilometer south of Madras (Chennai), 11 ْ46̀ and 12 ْ 3̀ north latitude and between

79 ْ 36̀ and 79 ْ 53̀ of eastern longitudes. The total area of Pondicherry is 29,145

hectares, including 93 semi-towns and 141 villages, surrounded and intercepted by

Indian territories. Pondicherry was divided into eight communes: (i) Pondicherry, 2The French took over the administration of Pondicherry on 4th December 1816. Chandernagore was restored on 16th December 1816, Karaikal on 14th January 1817, Mahe on 22nd February 1817 and Yanam were returned on 12th April 1817. 3 J. Harmond. Domination et Colonization, Paris, 1910, p. 91.

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(ii) Ariancoupam, (iii) Bahur, (iv) Olgarat, (v) Mudaliarpet, (vi) Nettapakkam

(vii) Tirubuvanai, and (viii) Villianor. In the colonial era, the town of Pondicherry

was divided into two parts, namely, White Town (Ville de Blanche), covering an area

of 6,13,873 sq. meters, and Black Town (Ville de Noire), covering an area of

15,09,818 sq. meters.4 The Europeans had their settlements in the White Town which

was situated close to the seashore and their houses were built in Roman style, with

terraces. The Black Town was located just west of the White Town and was inhabited

by native Indians. Ramparts were made combining both White and Black divisions of

the town. But a canal dug by the French administration separated the two quarters.

Karaikal, situated on the Coromandel coast, lies between 10 ْ 49̀ and 11 ْ 01̀

northern latitude and between 79 ْ43̀ and 79 ْ52̀ eastern longitudes covering an area of

13,515 hectares including 110 villages, bounded by the Bay of Bengal on the east and

by Tanjore District of modern Tamil Nadu on all the other sides, 132 kilometres

further south of Pondicherry. Karaikal was divided into six communes. (i) Karaikal,

(ii) Grand’Aldée, (iii) Nédouncadou, (iv) Cotchéry, (v) Tirounallar and (vi) Néravy.

Yanam is situated on the Orissa coast, between 16 ْ 42̀ and 16 ْ 46̀ northern

latitude and between 82 ْ 1` and 82 ْ 19` eastern longitudes, 920 kilometres north of

Pondicherry. The region is bounded on the east and south by River Godavari which

discharges into the Bay of Bengal and by East Godavari District of modern Andhra

Pradesh on all the other sides. The total area of Yanam is 1,429 hectares.

Mahe region is situated between 11 ْ 42̀ and 11 ْ 43̀ northern latitude and

between 75 ْ 31̀ and 75 ْ 33̀ eastern longitudes on the Malabar coast, 640 kilometres

away from Pondicherry. It is bounded by the Arabian sea on the west and by

4 Annuaire des etablissements français dans l’Inde, 1880, pp.4-5.

19

Cannaore district of modern Kerala state on the other sides. The total area of Mahe is

5,909 hectares.

Chandernagore is situated between 22 ْ51̀ and 26 ْnorthern latitude and between

86 ْ1̀ and 48 ْeastern longitudes on the banks of the river Hoogly in the state of Bengal,

30 miles by road north of Calcutta and 2,600 kilometres north of Pondicherry. The

total area of Chandernagore is 940 hectares.

The loges were located at Masulipatnam, Calicut, Balassore, Cassimbzar,

Dacca, Jougdia, Patna, and Surate, and the factories at Frencepett, Boro, Iskitipah,

Kirpaye, Copour, Fatoua, Sorguia, Begomsara, Ponnareck, Boincha, Faridpour,

Canicola, Monepour, Serempour, Sola, Cittagong, Malda, Silhet, Golpara, and

Goretty.5 The following table gives the area and population of the settlements in the

years 1900 and 1948.

Table1. 1 Area and Population of French India

Communes Population Density/Sq. kms. Settlements

1900 1948

Area/Sq. miles 1900 1948 1900 1948

Pondichéry 4 8 115 174456 222572 600 782 Karikal 3 6 53 56695 70541 419 518 Chandernagor 1 1 3.5 26831 44786 2981 5111 Mahé 1 1 22.85 10298 18293 542 305 Yanaon 1 1 5.5 5005 5853 357 353

Total 10 17 200(510 sq.kms) 273185 362045 582 720

Source: Paul Pelet. Atlas des colonies françaises dressées par ordre du ministère des colonies, Paris : Librairie Armand Colin, 1900 and L’Annuaire statistique de l’union française outre-mer, 1939-1949.

5 Annuaire des etablissements français dans l’Inde, 1900, pp 5-6.

20

Map 1

The Former French Comptoirs in India

21

Economy of French India

French India was composed of five clearly distinct geographical regions, each

with its own economic pattern. The many economies of the territories, with their own

settlement patterns, agricultural seasons, crops and marketing arrangements, mingled

with historical, social, linguistic, cultural diversities, naturally produced structural

variations.

Like the Indian sub-continent, the French settlements in India were mainly

agricultural. The percentage of cultivated area at the turn of the twentieth century was

as follows: Pondicherry 70%; Karaikal 90%; Mahe 92%; and Yanam 49%. The main

sources for irrigation are the rivers. Pondicherry is irrigated by the rivers Ponniar and

Gingy, Karaikal is situated on the basin of the river Kavery, Yanam gets water from

the rivers Godavari and Coringha, Mahe is irrigated by the river Mayaji and

Chandernagore gets the benefit from the river Hoogly. During the French

administration canals were dug extensively to irrigate the vast area of paddy fields in

Karaikal and Pondicherry. The statistics given in the following table provides a clear

picture of agricultural production in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Table 1. 2 Agricultural Statistics

Settlements

Total area cultivated in hectares

Rice in tonnes

Small grains in tonnes

Indigo in tonnes

Betel in tonnes

Tobacco in tonnes

Cotton in tonnes

Sugar cane in tonnes

Pondichéry 29.000 6829 9832 486 28 7 3 4

Karikal 13.500 8313 474 27 28 - - -

Chandernagor - - - - - - - -

Mahé 6.000 1469 - - - - - -

Yanaon 1.500 35 583 - - - - -

Source: Paul Pelet. Atlas des colonies françaises dressées par ordre du ministére des colonies, Paris : Librairie Armand Colin, 1900 and Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde, 1936.

22

Paddy constituted the major cultivating crop in the settlements, except in

Chandernagore. Karaikal was the main source for cultivation of rice, and it produced

a surplus of 7000 to 8000 tonnes annually for export. There was some encouragement

for cultivation of cotton, indigo, sugarcane, coconut and mulberry other than paddy.

As soon as the settlements were recovered, some firm measures were taken to

develop the settlements commercially and agriculturally. Desbassayns de Richemont,

the Governor of French India (1825-27) offered state land for sale at low prices,

reduced the rates of land revenue, boosted the buyers of land (both Indians and

Europeans) and encouraged more cultivation of land.6 However, in due course of time

these measures led to uneven distribution of land, undue exploitation of the poorer

sections of society and adversely affected output. Lands were cultivated by land

owners, tenants and share croppers (mostly in Karaikal). The pattern of distribution of

holdings showed that most of the land was owned by a few big landlords or farmers

and that the bulk of other cultivators had only small patches of land. There were more

agricultural labourers than cultivators in Karaikal and Pondicherry. In Mahe, this

trend was reversed as Mahe had more landowners than labourers. An Agricultural

Improvement Society was established in 1850s for the development of the rural

cultivators by supplying them with improved seeds, manure and modern implements

or to induce them to take to new technique of cultivation. The Syndicat agricole was

organized in 1911 in order to encourage share croppers, and in 1933 credit facilities

were granted through Crédit agricole. On the whole, it appears that French rule had

brought into existence a class of land owners, who might be also termed the “elite” of

society. They were products of an economic structure put in place by the French.

6 Narayani Gupta, “Pondicherry in the Nineteenth Century: A Port Without a Hinterland” in Indu Banga ed. Ports and their Hinterlands in India 1700-1950, Manohar, 1992, pp 92-101.

23

They played a crucial role in the social and political affairs of the colony during the

second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries.

Industries also made a contribution to the French Indian economy and

provided more employment opportunities for the native population, mostly to

weavers, dyers and artisans. Three cotton mills were started in Pondicherry:

(i) Etablissement textile de Modéliarpeth or Enny Mill was established in 1858, (ii)

Anglo-French Textile Ltd., or Rodier Mill was established in 1899 and (iii) Society

Anonym Savanna or Swadeshi Mill was established in 1828. Altogether these mills

possessed 1,980 looms and 85,376 spindles, produced 5,000 tonnes of export quality

cotton clothes annually, and employed about 8,000 labourers. Usually two kinds of

cloths were produced in these mills. The first was Sylas,7 exported to south-eastern

countries like Malaysia and the second was Shandorah8 which had a preferential and

protected market in the French overseas colonies in Africa.

About 6,968 traditional handlooms in Muthialpet in Pondicherry produced

Sylas cloths. Apart from this, there were 120 cloth printing units, 20 indigo factories,

28 shell factories, 2 ice factories, 1 bone powder mill, 7 oil refineries and 1

government distillery in Pondicherry. There were several rice mills in Karaikal and

rice was exported to Ceylon and Malaya. There was a jute mill in Chandernagore

providing about 6,000 employment opportunities for the Chandernagore population.

Tinned fish was prepared in Mahe. Yanam was reputed for pickles.9 The following

table shows the distribution of working class population in each settlement in 1948.

7 A Handloom cloth. 8 A heavy indigo dyed cloth. 9 Paul Pelet. Atlas des colonies françaises dressées par ordre du ministère des colonies, Paris: Librairie Armand Colin, 1900, pp.61-62.

24

Table 1. 3 Distribution of Occupational Groups

Occupational groups Pondichéry Karikal Chandernagor Mahé Yanaon

Textile mill workers 8100 - 3500 - -

Agriculturalists 30000 15000 - 4000 2000 Textile craftsmen 10000 6000 - 300 300 Fishermen 3000 600 - 100 - Others 5000 1200 2000 200 100

Source: Alain Coret. La cession de l’Inde française, 1948, p.597.

Since France established its commercial settlements in India, the French East

India Company was engaged in trade contact with native weavers of silk and cotton,

dyers of cloths, printers and other artisans. Pondicherry in the eighteenth century had

attracted many Indian merchants and weavers, both by deliberate inducement and by

the incidence of political and military conflicts in British India. The introduction of

flying shuttles to the local weavers, attracted crowds of weavers into French India.10

Such factors had increased production of cloth in French India and led to the growth

of a number of dyeing establishments.

In the nineteenth century as industrial units were started in the vicinity of

Pondicherry town, there was a continuous migration from rural areas to Pondicherry

town. The migrant workers settled in Olgarat, Modéliarpet and Kossapalayam areas.

The starting of textile mills and other industries led to the emergence of an industrial

working class in Pondicherry. Most of the mill workers at that time belong to the

deprived castes. The higher castes ignored the mill jobs which were considered as

polluted whereas the deprived castes having no other source for the survival took up

mill jobs. French India in 1920s and 1930s witnessed exploitation of mill workers and

their subsequent agitation against the French administration and mill management.

10 Narayani Gupta, “Pondicherry in the Nineteenth Century: A Port Without a Hinterland” in Ports and their Hinterlands in India 1700-1950, 1992, pp. 92-101.

25

The opening up of international free trade in 1861, the construction of railway

links with the British Indian railway network and improvements made in the harbours

gave a fillip to trade activities in French India. Coastal trade was carried on through

the ports of Pondicherry and Karaikal and international trade through Pondicherry,

which was the only capable international trading port of French India. Coastal trade

was conducted by “country boats” called Thonys gauging between 20 to 60 tonnes

and belonging to Indians. While country trade was in the hands of Muslim Choulias

in Karaikal, it was managed by Hindus in Pondicherry. Pondicherry was linked with

the southern ports of the Coromandel, Gulf of Manner, Malabar and Bengal, and

Karaikal maintained a continuous trade with Ceylon.11

The groundnuts which were harvested in the adjoining districts of British India

were brought to the ports through a well connected railway network between

Pondicherry and Cuddalore and between Karaikal and Nagapatinam. Export of

groundnuts to France (mainly to Marseilles, Nantes and Bordeaux) attracted many

businessmen both Indians and Europeans in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The principal exports consisted of shelled groundnuts to France, cotton yarn to Indo-

China, pure cloth, bone powder, hides and skins, silk, and onions to the British

colonies. The principal imports consisted of tinned provisions, rice, sugar, areca nut,

tobacco, wood, wines and spirits, cement, mineral-oil, colours and other chemical

produce, cotton-yarn, cotton and jute cloth, silk, paper, machinery etc. Rice, cotton,

coal, petroleum, medicine, electricity were supplied from British India to the south

Indian French settlements.

11 Francis Cyril Antony, ed. Gazetteer of India: Union Territory of Pondicherry, Vol. 1, Pondicherry, 1982, pp. 683-84.

26

With the extension of French political influence to the union of Indo-China in

1897, Pondicherry became the halting place for ships on their route to the far eastern

countries. The years 1901 to 1904 were prosperous in trade activities; there was a

slight decline in 1905, 1906 and 1907. From 1908 to 1914, the French establishments

participated in the general expansion of Indian sea-born trade and had a larger foreign

exchange from trade than at any other time in their history. From 1913 to 1916 the

export and import trade had a sharp decline to less than half way due to the

commencement of the First World War. Again, in the inter-war period, particularly

between 1917 and 1937, the export trade showed a marked decline, while import trade

enjoyed a boom. The export trade showed signs of improvement during 1936-38 as

amplified by the following table:

Table1. 4 Foreign Trade (1936 – 1938)

1936 1937 1938 Designation of the commerce

Value in metric tonnes

Value in million Francs

Value in metric tonnes

Value in million Francs

Value in metric tonnes

Value in million Francs

Import 31.675 80.539 21.553 59.865 23.441 64.344 Export 65.977 71.076 82.009 118.851 60.141 91.442 Total

commerce 97.652 151.615 103.562 178.716 83.582 155.786

Source: Journal officiel des etablissements français dans l’Inde, 1938, p.1217.

The export trade showed signs of improvement during 1937 but it did not last

long. With the outbreak of World War II and the capitulation of France in 1940,

communication between Pondicherry and France was once again cut off. However,

negotiations between the administration of French India and the government of

British India led to the establishment of the Customs Union of 28th January, 1941.

After this agreement, the textile products of Pondicherry gained a ready market in

27

British India.12The Custom Convention of 28th January 1941 was in usage until it was

terminated by the independent Indian government, in April 1949. Under various

conventions and agreements, French India was closely connected with British Indian

railways, post offices and British Indian customs. In return the Indian government

paid about a sum of rupees 12 lakhs annually to the French government. The Banque

de l’Indochine, established in 1875 in Pondicherry, issued paper currencies of one

Rupee, five rupees and fifty rupees, under the authority of the French administration.

The Indian rupees were widely in usage in all the French settlements and the

exchange rate was 2.5 francs in 1875 and 9.15 francs in 1929.13

The land tax constituted the main source of revenue, the others being alcohol,

tobacco, salt, betel, opium, saltpetre and customs duties, both by sea and land.

Generally, lands were classified into three categories: (i) irrigated or wet lands, (ii)

non-irrigated or dry lands, (iii) waste, non-cultivable lands. Again each category was

to be divided into classes. 1/8th of the total net income was collected as land tax. The

economic depression of 1930s, demanded reduction of land taxes. The Conseil

général, on 27th December 1931, recommended a reduction of land tax as 1/10th of the

total production. The total income from land revenue in 1900 was rupees 1,92,288 and

in 1925, rupees 3,38,400. In 1943 land tax was increased to 40% and in 1950 again it

was increased from 40% to 50%.14

Liquor was another major source of revenue, contributing 40% of the total

revenue receipts. From the beginning of the 20th century the French administration

12 Francis Cyril Antony, ed. Gazetteer of India: Union Territory of Pondicherry, Vol. 1, Pondicherry, 1982, p. 686. 13 Francis Cyril Antony, ed. Gazetteer of India: Union Territory of Pondicherry, Vol. 1, Pondicherry, 1982, pp. 676-77 and Alfred Martineau. Etablissements français dans L’Inde, p.58. 14 Francis Cyril Antony, ed. Gazetteer of India: Union Territory of Pondicherry, Vol. 1, Pondicherry, 1982, pp. 947-48.

28

took measures to improve its revenue by regulating its taxes and granting license to

the native production of Callou15 and Arreckpate.16 The new reform measures

worked well, increasing the revenue rupees 30,00,00 in 1906 to rupees 5,16,025 in

1913. Country liquors, such as Arreckpate, Callou and Indian made foreign liquors

such as Rum and Curacao were produced in the local distillery and distributed for use

in French Indian settlements. In 1914, the average consumption of liquors in Madras

Presidency was 0.292 litres per head, whereas Pondicherrians consumed 5.648 litres,

of which alcohol constituted 1.526 litres.17 The addiction to alcohol caused severe

moral and health problems to the population in the settlements as “alcoholism,

prostitution and electoral terrorism” came to be identified with French colonial rule.

Society in French India

To add to economic disunities, there were four major linguistic divisions in

French India at the time of the merger. Tamil was the largest single language of the

people spoken in Pondicherry and Karaikal (90%). Telugu was the sole language for

Yanam people (5%). Malayalam was the sole language in Mahe (6%) and Bengali

was spoken in Chandernagore (1%). In addition, the French influence had left nearly

20% of French speakers dotted around the French Indian settlements.

Pondicherry had a population of 1,87,870, Karaikal 60,447, Mahe 13,635,

Yanam 5,649 and Chandernagore 31,250; of whom 2/3 remained in the rural areas.18

In the eight communes of Pondicherry 1,00,000 are rural inhabitants in 1936. The

15 A country made intoxicating drink. 16 A locally produced alcoholic beverage. 17 Jacques Weber. Pondichéry et les comptoirs de l’Inde après Dupleix la démocratie au pay des castes. Paris : L’Aventure coloniale de la France, 1996, p.341. 18 Indo-Chine-Inde – 1936, p. 4.

29

following table shows that the growth of population in the settlements over the study

period:

Table 1.5 Population Growth in French India

Communes 1901 1911 1926 1931 1941 1948

Pondichéry 47562 47539 42725 43499 53101 59835 Oulgaret 55219 24479 26588 28899 32204 35311 Villenour 42994 19741 23932 23489 25751 27991 Bahour 32229 17714 18005 18352 21372 20591

Ariancoupam - 11438 14442 20636 16906 18793 Modéliarpet - 15566 14558 14846 20124 22396

Tiroubouvané - 19462 21094 20963 21348 23232

Pond

iché

ry

Nettapacom - 15959 13824 12874 13847 14423 Total 178004 171898 175168 183558 204653 222572

Karikal 17865 19505 16970 17038 19363 23008 Grand’Aldée 16269 8488 7864 8317 8128 9477 Nédouncadou 23496 7545 5848 5617 6593 7001

Néravy - 8370 6479 7259 6891 8126 Tirnoular - 11219 12274 12558 12438 14632 K

arik

al

Cotchéry - 5745 6656 6605 7142 8297 Total 57630 60872 25409 57394 60557 70541

Chandernagor 26568 28556 26506 27262 38284 44786 Mahé 9399 10431 10321 12430 14092 18293

Yanaon 4681 4727 4995 5249 5711 5853 General Total 276240 276484 273081 285893 323295 362045

*- communes was not established. Source: Annuaire des etablissements français dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1900-1948.

There was a drastic fluctuation in the population mainly due to the impact of

epidemics like small-pox and cholera which ravaged the settlements from time to

time. The victims of cholera numbered 217 in 1934, 333 in 1935 and 571 in 1936.

The number of cases registered under virus diseases was 1607 in 1934, 717 in 1935

and 264 in 1936.19 From 1934 to 1937, nearly 13% of total budget was spent on health

and medical services. Famines and floods too had an impact on the decline of

population. The cyclone which hit Pondicherry and Karaikal in 1916, 1943 and 1952

caused heavy damage to life and property.

A curious aspect of society in French India was fact that the native Indians and

the Europeans shared the bond of being minorities. The inhabitants saw themselves in

19 Jacques Weber. Pondichéry et les comptoirs de l’Inde après Dupleix la démocratic apays des castes. Paris: l’aventure coloniale de la France, 1996, p. 344.

30

four ethnic categories – the Europeans; the Mixed Community (Créoles, Métis and

Topas); the upper-caste Hindus and Christians; and Muslims and lower-caste Hindus

and Christians. A major section of society composed of the Hindus. Christians and

Muslims were the other religions. The following table shows the religion-wise

population in the settlements.

Table 1.6 Religion-wise Population in 1926

Hindus Muslims Christians Settlements Numbers % Numbers % Numbers %

Total

Pondichéry 158146 90.3 4499 2.5 12516 8.2 175070 Karikal 42654 76 5609 10 7828 13.6 55930 Chandernagor 23264 87.7 2756 10.4 486 1.6 26443 Mahé 4754 95 190 3.8 437 3.8 4992 Yanaon 7302 64.6 3562 31.5 48 1 11300 Total 236120 86.2 16616 6 20999 7.6 273735

Source: Alfred Martineau. Etablissements français dans l’Inde, p.66. Among the Hindu community, the Brahmins were considered to be the high

caste people in the society. In twentieth century Pondicherry, their role in the civil

service is very limited, a peculiar aspect considering their predominance in colonial

administration of British India. In Pondicherry and Karaikal, the Vellaja caste enjoyed

a higher status among the Hindus. In the town the Vellajas were engaged in the

police, the magistracy and the administration, a number of them were attracted by the

west, whereas in the rural areas they continued to be the traditional land holding caste.

The rural Vellajas were landlords and were more conservative.

The Mudaliars, a prominent Vellaja group emerged as an important

community in the Pondicherian society. Most of them were educated and took to

administrative service. They offered the strongest resistance to the Europeans. The

Reddiars, most of whom were engaged in agriculture, shared a superior position in the

villages along with the Vellajas. Chettiars in the town were involved in international

trade, banking and had the qualities of handling coolies and fishermen who worked on

31

the trading ports. Nearly one third of the total Hindus in Pondicherry were Vannias

and pariahs who constituted 32%. Mostly agricultural labourers, their emancipation

always threatened the high caste elites. The Mukkuvar (fishermen) community formed

a considerable portion of the population in the coastal areas and their role in the

colony was a significant one.

One of the French colonial legacies in India was to create a Catholic culture.

The missionaries, supported and encouraged by the French administrators, carried out

the task of converting the natives to Christianity. The Catholic community occupied

10 to 15% of the Pondicherry population. Forty percent of them were Choutres

(upper-caste), who showed more solidarity with the Hindus of their own caste and

never mixed up with the low-caste Christians.

The Muslims formed nearly 1/20 of the whole population of the settlements.

They were not numerous in Pondicherry representing 10% of the population, divided

by castes and sects. Karaikal had more Muslim population than Pondicherry; they

were known as Chulia and were descendants of Arab merchants and Indian women.

They were divided into two main groups called Marakayar and Ravuthars. The

Marakayar lived on maritime trade and the Ravuthars were local traders.

The socio-economic hierarchy in Malabar of which the society in Mahe was a

part, Nambudri Bharmins were of the highest ranking caste. They were ritual

specialists and land owners. The Nayars ranked next to the Nambudris in the

hierarchy, had marriage ties with the Nambudris. The Nayars controlled most of the

land in Malabar. They were internally differentiated as some of them were tenants of

the Nambudris or of other Nayars. Next in the hierarchy were the Tiyyas or Izhavas

and low-castes known as Pulayans, Cherumans and Parayans who constituted the

32

bottom of the order. The Malabar society also included the Muslim community

known as Moplahs who were decedents of the union between Arab traders and local

women or converts from Hinduism. Moplahs were merchants; some were land

owners; a good many of them worked on the land owned by Nambudris or Nayars, as

tenants.

In Chandernagore, the upper-castes were Brahmins, Kayasthas, Baniks and

Baidyas were other castes. The Banik were generally traders and merchants and were

further divided into Subarnabaniks, Gandhabanik and Tamulibaniks. Some of them

made money from salt trade and many were engaged in legal professions.

In Yanam, the Brahmins who were ritual specialist and land owners remained

on top. Reddys and Kammas were the other land owning castes. Artisans were in the

middle level, followed by the service castes and finally the untouchable castes called

Malla and Madiga at the bottom of the hierarchy. The Reddy was an “open” category,

as those who acquired land with other forms of wealth and influence started calling

themselves as Reddys.

The policy of assimilation of the Third Republic (1870- 1914) in France

brought a drastic change in the colonial society. The Republicans of that era thought,

that the French colonies must be an integral part of the French Empire. Some

enlightened Indians used this opportunity, for demanding equality with Europeans. To

fulfil their aspirations, the French issued a Décret on Renonçiation, on 25th September

1881.

The process of Renonçiation enabled the inhabitants of French India to

become Renonçants, by adopting the French civil code and customs in all aspects. A

good number, mostly from the depressed classes, conscious of their own degradation,

33

willingly opted to become French citoyens (citizens), so as to attain equality, status

and position. Attracted by the political and social advantages, many Christians,

Muslims and even a number of high-caste Hindus became Renonçants. In 1883, they

numbered 1,434 and exceeded 2,000 in 1885. A few of them were absorbed in civil

services and a good many joined the military service in French overseas colonies.

The Hindus showed solidarity with their caste values and Mamool (tradition).

Since the caste system had been the determining feature of native life in the colony, as

elsewhere in sub-continent, the French administration had to respect them, because

French India needed clear cut laws in the absence of military or police force like

British India. A series of decrees issued in 1769, 1778 and in 1819 permitted native

Indians to be judged according to their usage, custom, and law and guaranteed respect

to their personal status. In accordance with this, an ‘Indian Committee’ on

jurisprudence, dominated by Brahmins and Chettiars was created in 1827. This body

accomplished a remarkable task of compilation, translation and explanation of Hindu

law texts and assured the caste status was measured in symbols.20 In the 1830s, a list

of Indian castes in the appropriate hierarchy was complied, together with their

symbols and banners. The government brought the rod down on low castes and passed

a special law restricting pariah caste people from wearing sandals.

The differences between groups of Left-hand and Right-hand castes, which

had ceased to be an issue in Madras Presidency in the 18th century, persisted in the

French settlements in south India throughout the 19th century. From the 1870s the

battle over caste-hierarchy was to be replaced by competition at the level of electoral

politics between the ‘European’ and ‘Indian-party’ as a racial distinction and one

20 Narayani Gupta, “Pondicherry in the Nineteenth Century: A Port Without a Hinterland” in Indu Banga .ed. Ports and their Hinterlands in India 1700-1950, Manohar, 1992 p. 99.

34

between ‘India Indians’ and those who had opted for French nationality (Renonçants).

The caste war based on symbols and emblems was slowly replaced by numbers and

economic strength in the twentieth century.

The French administrative efforts for the removal of casteism in the colony,

promulgated by the Décret of 16th June 1937, abolished the mentioning of caste in the

État civil records (birth, marriage and death) and the mentioning of caste in

government documents. By the Arrêté of 20th August 1940, the suffix Cherry (which

represented the nomenclature of pariah villages) was changed into Peth. “The

measures did not alter very much the status of the pariahs but helped to improve their

living conditions within or close to the urban settlements.”21

As in British India, the starting of educational institutions contributed to the

emergence of an educated class in the settlements. Due to the colonial educational

reforms, the traditional system (which was largely based on heredity and caste) was

replaced by the French system of education. Even before the administration took the

initiative, the Christian missionaries were active in starting educational institutions.

During the Governorship of Desbassayns de Richemont (1826-28), some firm

measures were taken to improve education and it got its momentum in the later half of

the nineteenth century. Under the Third Republic, the laicization of the educational

institutions was carried out in spite of opposition from the missionaries. In 1877 all

the educational institutions were brought under the control of the Commission

l’instruction publique. Schools were set up in both the urban and rural areas of the

settlements. While French medium was preferred, there was also encouragement for

teaching vernacular languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bengali in 21 Emmanuel Divien, “Socio- religious movement in French India with special reference to Pondicherry,” in S. P. Sen, ed. Social and Religious Reform Movements in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Calcutta, 1979, p.402.

35

government schools. In 1900, there were 50 public primary schools, (with 5,343 boys

and 3,925 girls) and 222 private schools (with 6,210 boys and 398 girls) in the

settlements. In 1910, 13,500 students were sent to public and private schools. This

number was raised to 15,500 in 1920, 16,000 in 1930, and 22,000 in 1940.22

Table 1.7 Students by Caste/Origin in 1917

Boys Girls Origins and caste of the students

Public Private

Total

Public Private

Total General Total

Europeans and their descendants

96 96 182 147 107 254 436

Native Christians and Renonçants

538 561 1099 278 515 793 1892

Native Christians pariahs

386 71 457 182 33 215 672

Hindus by Caste 3474 3445 6919 2099 608 2707 9626

Hindus pariahs 170 92 262 48 21 69 331

Muslims 521 428 949 198 159 357 1306 Total 5185 4683 9868 2952 1443 4395 14263

Source: Rapport sur la situation général de l’Inde pour l’année 1917.

On 17th July 1838, law studies were inaugurated in Pondicherry. Later in 1876,

a three years course in law was introduced. In 1863 facilities for medical studies were

created in Pondicherry. The university diploma called Baccalaureat was introduced in

Pondicherry on 14th February 1872. Nearly 12% to 15% of the budget was spent for

the improvement of education every year. Despite all the efforts, 63% of the French

Indian population remained illiterate in 1942.23 However, as education was the key to

employment and status, a section of the society (lawyers, teachers, doctors) soon grew

as a well-to-do section of the Indian society.

22 L’Inde Francaise dans la Guerre, Pondichéry, Inprimerie du Gouvernment, 1942. 23 L’Inde Française dans la Guerre, Pondichéry, Inprimerie du Gouvernment, 1942.

36

Administration

Social, economic and cultural distinctions, however, not only divided the

settlements into regional components but also ran through each region, separating one

socio-political group from another. They did not share the same social status and

value systems, the same recognized behavioural models, and the same levels of

political culture and ideological moorings.

After the restoration of settlements, the old pattern of French administration

was restored in the colonies. The Ordonnance of 23rd July 1840, known as the

Ordonnance organique of 1840,24 vested the Governor with full military command

and control over the administration of the colony. He was empowered to promulgate

laws passed by the legislature in France, executed the Décrets of the President of the

French Republic and carried out the Arrêtés and regulations issued by the Ministers in

France.

The Governor was assisted by a Conseil d’administration (Administrative

council) and Administrators who were in charge of the territories other than

Pondicherry. In 1879 the Conseil d’administration gave way to a Conseil privé,25

composed of the Governor, the Directeur de l’intérieur, the Chefs de service

administrative, the Procureur général and two civilians were selected among the

European or Indian notables who had completed thirty years of age and were

domiciled in the colony for a period of at least five years.

The Governor was the President of the Conseil. The Conseil met at the

government house in a place specially reserved for its meetings. The Conseil met

24 This act was in accordance with Louis Philippe’s administrative reforms in France. 25 Constituted by the Décret dated 24th June 1879.

37

every month on the first and continued its session till the last matter was dispensed

off. The Conseil could deliberate only if all its members were present or legally

replaced. The Conseil deliberated on the majority of votes with a casting vote for the

Governor in case of a tie. The Conseil deliberated only on matters placed before it by

the Governor. The powers of the Governor could be exercised only after obtaining the

views of the Conseil. But the Governor was not bound to conform himself to the

views of the Conseil. In all other matters, the Governor should obtain the views of the

Conseil only if they were necessary and useful in the interest of the administration of

the colony. The Conseil privé was empowered to deal, as an administrative tribunal,

with the following matters:

1. Conflicts between Heads of the departments. 2. Conflicts between the government and the contractors. 3. Claims of individuals regarding the duress to which they were

subjected by the contractors. 4. Claims regarding the lease of lands.

The parties may appeal to the Conseil d’état against the decisions of the

Conseil privé.26 By the Décret of 7th September 1881 a Conseil du contentieux was

established in subordination to the Conseil privé to decide questions over

administrative laws and disputes. The Conseil du contentieux composed the same

members of Conseil privé and two assistant magistrates, who were replaced every

year by the order of Governor.

The Conseil général was created by the Décret dated 25th January 1879. Its

members were elected by direct and suffrage universel. All citizens enrolled on the

voter’s lists who have completed 25 years, knowing to speak, read and write French,

who were domiciled in the settlement for at least one year were eligible to file

26 Annuaire des etablissements français dans l’Inde pour l’années, 1880.

38

nomination in the election. Government employees, magistrates, contractors were not

eligible. The members were elected for six years, provided half of the members were

to be elected every 3 years. At first the Conseil général consisted of 25 members to be

elected by the voters of two lists as follows:

Table 1.8.1 Distribution of Two Lists of Voters

Settlements

Europeans and their

descendants 1st List

Natives 2nd List Total

Pondichéry 7 5 12 Karikal 3 3 6 Chandernagor 2 1 3 Mahé 1 1 2 Yanaon 1 1 2 General total 14 11 25

Source: Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1880.

Then the total numbers was raised to 30 (Art.2. of the Décret of 26th February

1884) to be elected by the voters of three lists as follows:

Table 1.8.2 Distribution of Three Lists of Voters

Settlements

Europeans and their

descendants 1st list

Renonçants 2nd list

Non- Renonçants and other

natives 3rd list

Total

Pondichéry 4 4 4 12 Karikal 2 3 3 8 Chandernagor 2 1 1 4 Mahé 1 1 1 3 Yanaon 1 1 1 3 General total 10 10 10 30

Source: Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1885.

It was modified again by the Décret of 10th September, 1899 as follows:

39

Table 1.8.3 Distribution of the Restored (Two) Lists of Voters

Settlements

Europeans and their

descendants and

Renonçants 1st List

Other natives 2nd List

Total

Pondichéry 6 6 12 Karikal 4 4 8 Chandernagor 2 2 4 Mahé 1 1 2 Yanaon 0 2 2 General total 13 15 28

Source: Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1900.

The Conseil général was convened once in every year in ordinary session by

the Governor. The duration of the session was fixed as one month. The Governor

might extend it if it was required.

The Conseils locaux was created by the Décret, dated 25th January 1879. The

members were elected by universal and direct suffrage. All citizens whose names

were entered in the voters lists who had completed 25 years, knowing to speak, read

and write French, who were domiciled in the settlement for at least six months were

eligible to file nomination for the election. Government employers, magistrates, and

contractors were not eligible. The members were elected for six years. Half of the

number of members was to be renewed in every three years. The table below gives the

composition of the Conseils Locaux:

40

Table 1.9.1 Composition of the Conseils locaux, 1879

Settlements

Europeans and their

descendants 1st List

Natives 2nd List Total

Pondichéry 6 6 12 Karikal 4 4 8

Chandernagor 3 3 6 Mahé 2 2 4

Yanaon 0 4 4 General total 15 19 34

Source: Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1880.

The above numbers were subsequently modified by the Décret of 26th

February 1884 as follows:

Table 1.9.2 Modified Composition of the Conseils locaux, 1884

Settlements

Europeans and their

descendants 1st list

Renonçants 2nd list

Non- Renonçants

or other natives 3rd list

Total

Pondichéry 4 4 4 12 Karikal 3 3 3 9 Chandernagor 3 3 3 9 Mahé 2 2 2 6 Yanaon 2 2 2 6 General total 14 14 14 42

Source: Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1885. The Conseils locaux was again reconstituted by the Décret of 10th September

1899 as follows:

Table 1.9.3 Composition of the Reconstituted Conseils locaux, 1899

Settlement

Europeans, their

descendants and

Renonçants 1st List

Other natives

2nd List

Total

Pondichéry 6 6 12 Karikal 5 5 10 Chandernagor 4 4 8 Mahé 3 3 6 Yanaon 0 6 6 General total 18 24 42

Source: Annuaire des etablissements française dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1900.

41

The Conseils locaux was convened once every year, in ordinary session, by

the Governor. The Governor could however convene the Conseils locaux in

extraordinary session, whose purpose and direction would be stipulated in the

government order. The functions of the Conseils locaux were only consultative. The

members gave their views on the local budget of the concerned settlement to which

they belonged and on all matters coming under the purview of the Conseil général.

By the Décret of 12th March 1880 Municipal administration was established in

French India (the reform was contemporaneous with Viceroy Ripon’s Local Bodies

Act introduced in British India). Following the introduction of Municipal Act, ten

Municipalities (communes) were established viz., Pondichéry, Oulgaret, Villenour,

Bahour, Karikal, Grand’Aldée, Nédouncadou, Mahé, Yanaon and Chandernagor. The

Décret of 25th December 1907 increased the numbers of Municipalities to seventeen.

Each commune consisted of twenty to thirty villages. The territorial limits of

these communes were co-terminus with the geographical boundaries of the respective

villages. The members of the Municipal Council were elected by voters of the

respective communes and the members in each council elected a Mayor and two or

three Assistant Mayors. The Mayor runs the administration by publishing and

executing its laws. The Mayor also framed laws and rules affecting his commune,

pertaining mainly to public health and maintenance of public order, subject to the

approval of the Governor. The table given below furnished details of electors,

electoral councils and senatorial electors of French India, as in 1931.

42

Table 1.10 Numbers of Population, Electors, Electoral Councils and Senatorial Electors of French India

Number of Councillors Senatorial

electors Number of

electoral

List Municipal Locaux Général

Communes Population

1st list 2nd list 1st

list

2nd

list

1st

list

2nd

list

1st

list

2nd

list Elec

tora

l

coun

cil

Mun

icip

al

dele

gate

s Dép

uté

Pondichéry 43499 389 5191 9 9 - - - - 5

Ariancoupam 20636 - 2912 - 12 - - - - 2

Bahour 18352 - 2633 - 12 - - - - 2

Modéliarpet 14846 - 2712 - 12 - - - -- 2

Nettapacom 12871 - 3844 - 12 - - - - 2

Olgaret 28899 - 5947 - 12 - - - - 2

Tiroubouvané 20963 - 4067 - 12 - - - - 2

Pond

iché

ry

Villianor 23489 - 4321 - 12 - - - - 2

9 + 93 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 24 + 19 Total 183555 409 31627

102 12 12 43

Karikal 17558 84 2774 7 7 - - - -

Cotchéry 6605 - 944 - 12 - - - -

Grand’Aldée 8317 - 1200 - 12 - - - -

Nédouncadou 5617 - 676 - 12 - - - -

Néravy 7259 - 1642 - 12 - - - -

Kar

ikal

Tirounallar 12558 - 2092 - 12 - - - -

7 + 67 5 + 5 + 4 + 4 = 18 + 13 Total 57914 103

9328 74 10 8 31

= 12 + 2 Chandernagor 27262 -

3889 - 12 - 8 - 4

14

= 8 + 2 Mahé 12430 -

2013 - 12 - 6 - 2

10

= 8 + 2 Yanaon 5249 - 889 - 12 - 6 - 2

10

108 + 1 General total 286410 550 47746 212 42 28

109

Source: Annuaire des etablissements français dans l’Inde pour l’année, 1931-32.