The French community in India consists mainly of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n citizens of French ancestry who are descended from former French settlers and colonists who settled in India since the 17th century, as well as recent expatriates from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

History

The French in India are an artifact of the French presence there, which began in 1673 with the establishment of the

French East India Company The French East India Company (french: Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) was a colonial commercial enterprise, founded on 1 September 1664 to compete with the English (later British) and Dutch trading companies in th ...

and continued until 1962 when the French territory was formally transferred to India. The French presence was always minor compared with the British presence, and the French in India were generally not a significant portion of the population. There were 9,950 French nationals residing in India in 2013. Nearly all are in the Union Territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

in southeastern India (11,726 individuals in 1988), with much smaller numbers in

Karaikal Karaikal (Help:IPA/English, /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by t ...

(695 individuals), Mahé (50),

Yanam Yanam (Telugu: ''యానాం'') is a town located in the Yanam district in Puducherry. It has a population of 35,000 and is entirely surrounded by Andhra Pradesh. It was formerly a French colony for nearly 200 years, and, though united ...

(46), and 342 elsewhere in India. They form a small minority, accounting for less than 3 percent of the present population of Puducherry.

Indian French

Indian French (french: français Indien) is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of French spoken by

ns from the former colonies of French India; namely

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

(''Pondichéry''), Mahé,

(''Yanaon''),

(''Karikal'') in the union territory of

(''Poudouchéry'') and the Chandannagar (''Chandernagor'') subdivision in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. It has considerable influence from

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and the regional languages of India, such as the

Dravidian languages The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant ...

of Tamil (Pondicherry Tamil dialect), Telugu (Yanam Telugu dialect) and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

(Mahé Malayalam dialect) and the

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

in Chandannagar. There are several varieties of Indian French, corresponding to the former French colonies, as follows: *Tamil people (nearly 60,000 in France, 10,000 people in Puducherry) *Telugu people (nearly 10,000 in France, 35,000 people in Yanam) *Malayali people (4000–5000 in France)

Examples of Indian French

Indian French spoken in former French India vaguely varies from Standard French, in pronunciation and accent, with a few unique words, such as:

Current Status

Today, Pondicherry still has a community of French people living in the city and French is also an official language. There are 6,500 French people registered in South India, and of these about 5,500 are in Pondicherry. French companies in India are present in various sectors such as energy, IT, environment, automobiles, traditional manufacturing industries like St Gobain, and engineering. They also have exporters of fish and other seafood, textiles, leather and luxury goods. L’Oréal has a presence in India, and

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather ...

has taken a stake in Hidesign in Pondicherry. The French community in India is a consolidated group, brought together by a number of different organizations that aim to promote French culture in India. The French Club of Bombay is an organization that unites French speakers living in the city. The club meets at different locations in various parts of Mumbai so that meetings are conveniently located and have a good attendance. In February 2015, the Indo French Senior Citizens Association staged street protests in

to protest against denial of the French nationality and voting rights derived from the " treaty of cession" of French India territories, which guaranteed continued French citizenship to individuals whose birth and nativity certificate had been registered during the French India regime. Matrimandir

Notable people

* Abhishiktananda (born Henri Le Saux) – French

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk *

Mirra Alfassa Mirra Alfassa (21 February 1878 – 17 November 1973), known to her followers as The Mother, was a spiritual guru, occultist and yoga teacher, and a collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who considered her to be of equal yogic stature to him and ...

– also known as "The Mother"; spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo * Yvonne Artaud – French educator, ethnologist, psychologist and artist * Andre Beteille (born 1934) – Indian sociologist * Pierre Ceyrac – French Jesuit priest, engaged in charitable work * Christabel Chamarette – Senator for Western Australia (born in India and is of French Huguenot descent) *

Alain Daniélou Alain Daniélou (4 October 1907 – 27 January 1994) was a French historian, Indologist, intellectual, musicologist, translator, writer, and notable Western convert to and expert on the Shaivite sect of Hinduism. In 1991 he was awarded the ...

– French historian, intellectual, musicologist and Indologist * François Gautier – writer and journalist based in India * Catherine Grand – wife of

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (, ; 2 February 1754 – 17 May 1838), 1st Prince of Benevento, then Prince of Talleyrand, was a French clergyman, politician and leading diplomat. After studying theology, he became Agent-General of the ...

, the first Prime Minister of France * Maïna Kataki – founder of the charity Samarpan Ashram *

Kalki Koechlin Kalki Koechlin (; born 10 January 1984) is a French actress and writer who works in Hindi films. Known for her unconventional body of work, she is the recipient of such accolades as a National Film Award, a Filmfare Award, and two Screen Awar ...

– Indian-born French actress *

Jules Monchanin Father Jules Monchanin (who chose to call himself Swami Paramarubyananda) (April 10, 1895 in Fleurie, Rhône - October 10, 1957 in Paris) was a French Catholic priest, monk and hermit. He is known for the being one of the "Trinity from Tanni ...

(known as Swami Paramarubyananda) – French Catholic priest, monk and hermit *

Pavitra Pavitra (January 16, 1894 – May 16, 1969) (from the Sanskrit word for "pure") was one of the very early disciples of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. The name was one of Srimati Radharani's 1000 names. Early life He was born Philippe Barbier Sa ...

– early disciple of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother *

Satprem Satprem (30 October 1923 – 9 April 2007) was a French author and a disciple of Mirra Alfassa. Early life Satprem was born Bernard Enginger in Paris and had a seafaring childhood and youth in Brittany. During World War II he was a member of th ...

– author * Cyril Desbruslais - Jesuit priest, playwright and author. *

Andreanne Nouyrigat Andreanne Nouyrigat is a French actress, who lives and works primarily in India. She has appeared in supporting and leading roles in Tamil cinema.contestant of Cooku with comali Season 4 Career Andreane Nouyrigat was born in France, but settle ...

- French actress

Bibliography

* David-Néel, Alexandra (2002). L' Inde où j'ai vécu: Avant et après l'indépendance. Paris: Plon. *Elfi, Nicole (2008). Aux sources de l'Inde: L'initiation à la connaissance. Paris: Les Belles Lettres. *Gautier, François (2005). La caravane intérieure: Récit. Paris: Les Belles lettres. *Gautier, François (2008) Les Français en Inde – Pondichéry, Chandernagor, Mahé, Yanaon, Karikal. France Loisirs. *Sethna, K. D. (1987). The obscure and the mysterious: A research in Mallarmé's symbolic poetry. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education.

References

{{French diaspora Europeans in India

French People from Puducherry