The independence of India in 1947 gave impetus to the union of France's Indian possessions with former British India. An agreement between France and India in 1948 stipulated that the inhabitants of France's Indian possessions would choose their political future.
The de jure union of French India with the Indian Union did not take place until 1962. On a de facto basis, the bureaucracy had been united with India's on 1 November 1954. It was organized as a Union Territory in 1963. Puducherry is now a part of India.
Pondicherry or Puducherry is a city, an urban agglomeration and a municipality in Pondicherry 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.
French influence.
The City of Pondicherry have recorded history after the advent of the Colonial Powers like the Dutch, Portuguese, English and the French. Though nearby places like Arikamedu, Ariyankuppam, Kakayanthoppe, Villianur, 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 history predating the Colonial History.
The French acquired Puducherry in 1674 and held control, with occasional interruption from the British and Dutch, until 1954 (de jure in 1956), when it was incorporated into the Indian Union along with the rest of French India.
GSC
