The French Riviera of the East

“The French Riviera of the East” is the advent of the French colonialization in India. Puducherry is the Tamil interpretation of “new town” and mainly arrived from “Poduke”. The consequential history of Pondicherry can be divided into three sections namely ancient history, medieval history and modern history. After the French colony was established this gave an altogether new social, political and economic history to this union. The Cholas were the first ones to rule the state during the medieval period. After the Cholas came the Pandyas who ruled the region starting from the thirteenth century till the fifteenth century. The modern history finally came to an end. There were constant conflicts between the English and the French and the reign of the region moved between them till 1816 after which the French gained authority of Pondicherry until it became the union territory in 1954. In exercise of the powers conferred by Article 239 of the Constitution of India and Section 46 of the Government of Union Territories Act 1963, the President of India has framed the Business of the Government of Puducherry (Allocation) Rules, 1963. Their presence played a very important role in giving shape to the modern history of Pondicherry and the flourishing commerce, trade, education and infrastructure in the region.