Puducherry could have originated from the name of original town ‘Pallathur’.
The Portuguese were the first European who landed at Pondicherry. The factory established by them on the coastal area and adjoining settlement, the local people called it Poudu-sery. The name is recorded in its Portuguese version as Puducheria for the first time in the map of India dated 1554.
“The Portuguese settlement of Pudu-cheria continued till 1614 when the Portuguese had to quit for having supported the faction who lost the battle of succession to the throne of Gingee. After a lapse of a decade, the Danish took possession of the colony in 1624 and developed it . They left in 1654 for reasons unknown. The French took possession in 1672,” says Justice David Annousamy, retired judge of Madras High Court in a recently published paper by the Historical Society of Pondicherry.
He also adds that in course of time, all the land belonging to the French around the town of Puducherry was called Territory of Pondicherry. After the merger of the French Settlements with India, the Indian Government gave the name of State of Pondicherry to the entirety of erstwhile French Establishments including Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. In 2006, the entirety of Union Territory of Pondicherry was called Puducherry by the Indian Government. By an order of 2007, it has been clarified that the town portion shall continue to be called as Pondicherry.
The Historical Society of Pondicherry (Societe De L’Histoire de Pondicherry) has come out with a book of compilation of several research papers which contains the paper of Mr. Annousamy. The society released the book under the name of “Poduke-Bandikere- Puducherri- Pondicherry,’ Readings into the History and Culture of French and Indian Pondicherry.” It also released another book “History of Medicine of French India” authored by Dr. Nallam. V.
The Historical Society of Pondicherry is one of the oldest research organizations of India, established in 1911 with the aim of providing a platform to carry out researches into the history and culture of Pondicherry region. Explaining the contents of the compilation, N.Chandramouli, Associate Professor of Pondicherry, who is the working editor, said, “The papers focus on different dimensions of the history of French and Indian Pondicherry from the earliest times to the present.” .
