16 History of Puducherry

The City of Puducherry on the southeast coast of India does not have a recorded history from antiquity. Puducherry has history recorded only after the advent of the colonial powers such as the Dutch, Portuguese, English and the French. Nearby places such as Arikanmedu, Kakayanthoppe, Villianur, and Bahur, which were annexed by the French East India Company over a period of time and became the Union Territory of Puducherry after Independence, have written histories that predate the colonial era.

The 2015 South India floods resulted from heavy rainfall generated by the annual northeast monsoon in November–December 2015. They affected the Coromandel Coast region of the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. More than 500 people were killed and over 1.8 million people were displaced. With estimates of damages and losses ranging from nearly ₹200 billion (US$3 billion) to over ₹1 trillion (US$14 billion), the floods were the costliest to have occurred in 2015, and were among the costliest natural disasters of the year.

M. R. Ry. Ananda Ranga Pillai was a dubash in the service of the French East India Company.

Arikamedu is an archaeological site in Southern India, in Kakkayanthope, Ariyankuppam Commune, Puducherry. It is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the capital, Pondicherry of the Indian territory of Puducherry.

The Battle of Pondicherry was a naval battle between a British squadron under Vice-Admiral George Pocock and French squadron under Comte d'Aché off the Carnatic coast of India near Pondicherry during the Seven Years' War. The battle took place on 10 September 1759. The outcome was indecisive.

The Battle of Wandiwash was a decisive battle in India during the Seven Years' War. The Count de Lally's army, burdened by a lack of naval support and funds, attempted to regain the fort at Vandavasi, now in Tamil Nadu. He was attacked by Sir Eyre Coote's forces and decisively defeated. The French general Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau and the French were then restricted to Pondichéry, where they surrendered on 22 January 1760. Wandiwash is the Anglicised pronunciation of Vandavasi.

Charles Joseph Patissier, Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau or Charles Joseph Patissier de Bussy was the Governor General of the French colony of Pondicherry from 1783 to 1785. He served with distinction under Joseph François Dupleix in the East Indies, receiving the Order of Saint Louis. He contributed to the recovery from Britain of Pondicherry in 1748, and was named in 1782 to lead all French military forces beyond the Cape of Good Hope. He coordinated his operations with Pierre André de Suffren and fought against the British during the Indian campaigns of the American War of Independence.

H. M. Cassime (1900–1986) was a Tamil-born businessman and Mayor of Pondicherry. He served as Mayor from 15 September 1956 to 3 November 1961 during the period of the merger of Pondicherry from French India to the Republic of India.

Camille Charles Le Clerc de Fresne, known as Chevalier de Fresne (1741-1797) was Governor General of Mauritius (1785) and Puducherry from 1789 to 1792 in the French Colonial Empire.

Joseph Marquis Dupleix was Governor-General of French India and rival of Robert Clive.

According to official estimates in India, 10,749 people were killed, 5,640 people were missing and thousands of people became homeless when a tsunami triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra struck the southern coast on 26 December 2004. The earthquake registered 9.1–9.3 Mw and was the largest in five decades. It was followed by strong aftershocks on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The death toll of the earthquake was 1,500 people.

Kizhoor is a village situated in the Villianur Commune Panchayat, Puducherry. It is located around 22 kilometers away from Puducherry. Kizhoor comes under the Mangalam Constituency of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Population of Kizhur in 2011 was 2,955 persons.

Pedro Kanakaraya Mudaliar was the chief dubash and a broker for the French East India Company. He remained in service for the longest period of 24 years between 1722 and 1746, especially during the early period of Joseph François Dupleix. He was succeeded by Ananda Ranga Pillai. Everything known about his life comes from the private diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai and the inscriptions found in the walls of St. Andrews church, which he built in the memory of his dead son. In the diary, he is portrayed as being jealous and the chief rival of Ranga Pillai. Thus, the accuracy of the description is questionable.

For other sieges with this name, see Siege of Pondicherry (disambiguation)

Chanda Sahib was a subject of the Mughal Empire and the Nawab of the Carnatic between 1749 and 1752. Initially he was supported by the French during the Carnatic Wars. After his defeat at Arcot in 1751, he was captured by the Marathas of Thanjavur and executed.

The 1760–1761 Siege of Pondicherry was a conflict in the Third Carnatic War, as part of the global Seven Years' War. Lasting from 4 September 1760 to 15 January 1761, British land and naval forces besieged and eventually compelled the French garrison defending the French colonial outpost of Pondicherry to surrender. The city was running low on supplies and ammunitions when French commander Lally surrendered. It was the third British victory in the region that was under the command of Robert Clive.