PONDICHLRRY, a considerable town on the sea-coast of the Carnatic, in the principal seat of the French power in the East Indies, is in 11° 57' N. lat., 79° 54' E. long., 85 miles S. by W. from Madras.
The first commercial expedition of the French which succeeded in reaching the East Indies by sea was composed of two vessels fitted out from a port In Bretagne (sax 1601); but the vessels were wrecked on the Maldive Islands before reachiug their ultimate destination, and their commander returned ten years afterwards to France. In 1616, 1619, and 1633, attempts were made to form settlements in Java and Madagascar, but these attempts did not succeed. In 1664 Colbert prmea tad to Louis XIV. the plan of an India Company, which received the royal sanction. The new Company turned their attention to the establishment of factories in Hindustan, and fixed the principal ono at Surat on the coast of tlujerat (180 or 140 miles north of Bombay), at that time one of the largest and most commercial cities of Hindustan. Leaving Surat they attempted to form an Independent settlement at Triocomelee Oh the north aide of Ceylon (1672). From this place they were very soon driven by the Dutch, and sailing to the coast of the Carnatic, they took by vault the Portuguese settlement of St. Thome, or Meliapoor, not far from Madras, from which they were again expelled (1674), and the wreck of this unfortunate expedition took refuge at Pondicherry, • lotto town on the same coast, which they had purchased two years before (1672) of the king of Visiapoor, or Bejapoor. [Ilvaroon.] Pondicherry was taken by the Dutch (1693), but restored at the peace of Ryswiok (1697), with the fortifications greatly improved. The town at this period owed mach to the wisdom and probity of N. Martin, its subsequent governor. Its defences were subsequently further augmented, and Dumas, who was sent out as governor, obtained from the court of Delhi,the permission to coin money, and the cession of the territory of Karical in the district of Tanjore. In 1748 Pondicherry was attacked by the English with a considerable fleet and army under Admiral Boscawen and Major Lawrence ; but the siege was raised after several days, and the Eoelish retreated.
In 1757 the war in the Carnatio was renewed : in 1758 the Count de Lally arrived at Pondicherry with strong reinforcements from France, and immediately attacked Fort St. David, about 16 miles south of that town, which he took by oepitulation, and forced the English to abandon Devicottah, another of their posts. He next attacked the king of Tanjore, but unsuocessfully. Arcot and the black town of
Madras were indeed taken, but Fort St. George (the fort of Madras) was relieved by an English fleet (1759), and Lally, with an exhausted commissariat and an empty pay-chest, retreated to Pondicherry. Subsequent hostilities were entirely to the disadvantage of the French. The English laid siege to Pondicherry, which surrendered early next year, and was subsequently demolished. The posts which the French retained in the Carnatic followed its example; and Lally returned to Europe to perish by an iniquitous sentence on the scaffold. At the peace of 1763 the French possessions in the Carnatic were restored. Subsequently Pondicherry was several times taken and retaken by French and English. In 1814 it was restored to France.
Pondicherry is built in a sandy plain not far from the shore, and consists of two parts, the white town and the black town. The white town is handsome ; the streets are built with remarkable regularity, intersecting each other at right angles, and are of a uniform width. The houses are tolerably high, and have flat roofs ; they are covered with stucco, white or yellow, and are adorned with fore courts or gardens. In the centre of the city is a spacious square planted with trees and laid out in walks, and open on the east side to the sea. The black town lies to the south of the white town, from which it is 'separated by a ditch or canal, with trees planted along the bank : it is laid out almost as regularly as the European quarter, but the houses are for the most part mere huts. The French are debarred by treaty from restoring the fortifications, or from maintaining any force beyond what is necessary for the purposes of police. The government-honae Is a handsome building; there are also a bazaar, two churches, and a residence for the Catholio bishop and his clergy. The grand pagoda in the black town Is a building of vast size and grotesque architecture.
The population of tho town and the district attached to it is about 80,000. There is no harbour, but a tolerable roadstead; a lighthouse was erected in 1836. Indigo, auger-cane, millet, dye and aromatic woods, and mulberry-trees are cultivated in the neighbourhood. The exports consist of rice, drugs, sugar, indigo, and blue linens. The imports are lace, and articles of dress, furniture, jewellery, and books. There are two courts of justice, a mint, • college, schools for whites and for blacks, a botanio garden, • mentede-pi4t6, and several charitable institutions.