Pondicherry

Pondicherry, the chief of the French settlements in India, situated on the Coromandel Coast, 53 miles S. by W. of Madras City, is divided into two parts by a canal, White (European) town being next the sea. It has handsome streets, a government house, a college, a lighthouse, and a cotton-mill employing 1500 hands, besides native dyeing establishments. Pop. 41,858. It exports chiefly oil-seeds. The French colony of Pondicherry has an area of 115 sq. m. and a pop. of 140,945. The governor of Pondicherry is governor-general of the French possessions in India. The French first settled here in 1674. The Dutch took the town in 1693, but restored it to the French in 1697. In 1748 Admiral Boscawen besieged Pondicherry for two months, but was compelled to raise the siege. Eyre Coote, however, took it in 1761, yet it was restored to the French in 1763 with reduced territory. It was once more taken by the English under Sir Hector Monro in 1778, and once more given back in 1783. In 1793 the English again repossessed themselves of it, but it was a third time restored to the French in 1816.