Pondicherry (/pɒndᵻˈtʃɛri/ or /pɒndᵻˈʃɛri/) or Puducherry is a city, an urban agglomeration and a municipality in Puducherry district in the Indian union territory of Puducherry. It is affectionately known as Pondy, and has been officially known by the alternative name Puducherry since 2006. Pondicherry is the regional capital and largest city in the territory.

History

The history of the City of Pondicherry is recorded only after the arrival of Dutch, Portuguese, British and French colonialists. By contrast, nearby places such as Arikamedu, Ariyankuppam, Kakayanthoppe, Villianur and Bahur, which were annexed by the French East India Company over a period of time and which became the Union Territory of Pondicherry after Independence, have recorded history predating the colonial period.

A marketplace named Poduke or Poduca is recorded as a Roman trading destination from the mid 1st century. The area was part of the Pallava Kingdom of Kanchipuram in the 4th century. The Cholas of Thanjavur held it from the 10th to 13th centuries, only to be replaced by the Pandya Kingdom in the 13th century. The Vijayanagar Empire took control of almost all the South of India in the 14th century and maintained control until 1638 when they were supplanted by the Sultan of Bijapur. The French acquired Puducherry in 1674 and held it, with an occasional interruption by the British or Dutch, until 1954 (de jure 1956), when it was incorporated into the Indian Union along with the rest of French India.

Pondicherry, officially Puducherry, is a city in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Pondicherry may also refer to:

Pondicherry (or Pondichéry) was a French East Indiaman, launched in December 1754, that the Royal Navy captured in 1756, early in the Seven Years' War with France. She was then sold and her new owners, who renamed her Pitt, proceeded to charter her to the British East India Company (EIC), for three voyages. During her first voyage she engaged a French warship, and then went on to chart a new route, Pitt's Passage, through the East Indies on the way to China. The EIC found this new route of the utmost importance as it was faster than their existing route, and was navigable in all seasons. After her return from her third voyage Pitt disappears from readily available online sources.

Significance

It is her first voyage for the EIC, under the command of Captain William Wilson, that is of the greatest significance. Wilson sailed Pitt to China via a route between Java and New Guinea. The EIC had avoided sailing through the East Indies since the 1623 Amboyna massacre. The Dutch East India Company was hostile towards the EIC, fearing that the EIC would compete with them in sourcing pepper and spices. Throughout his voyage to via the East Indies, Wilson kept extensive notes, made charts, and on them corrected the location of several islands and other geographical features. When he arrived in Canton, he had two sets of his charts prepared, one for the EIC governor at Madras and one that the EIC representatives at Canton could copy for their vessels.

Coordinates: 11°56′N 79°08′E / 11.93°N 79.13°E / 11.93; 79.13 Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency covers the entire Union Territory of Puducherry. Pondicherry became a union territory after the implementation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1962 and changed its name to Puducherry in 2006. This constituency first held elections in 1967 and its first member of parliament (MP) was Thirumudi N. Sethuraman of the Indian National Congress (INC). Sethuraman represented the Indian National Congress (Organisation) in the 1971 election, which he lost to Mohan Kumaramangalam of the INC. The next election in 1977 was won by Aravinda Bala Pajanor of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). P. Shanmugam of the INC won the 1980 election and was re-elected in 1984 and 1989. M. O. H. Farook also of the INC served two terms from 1991 to 1998. In the 1998 election, S. Arumugham of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) was elected as MP. Farook was re-elected in 1999 to serve a third term as MP. The next election in 2004 was won by M. Ramadass of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). V. Narayanasamy of the INC was elected in 2009 and was defeated in the next election in 2014 by R. Radhakrishnan of the All India N.R. Congress. Radhakrishnan's victory was the first time that the Lok Sabha seat was won by a member of a Puducherry regional party. As of 2014, Radhakrishnan represents this constituency. The most successful party in this constituency is the Indian National Congress, whose members have won nine out of the thirteen elections held as of 2014.