Mahé, also known as Mayyazhi, is a former French colony in India. It is a small town (9 km2) in the south of the country off the Arabian Sea. It is surrounded by the state of Kerala on three sides. Administratively Mahé is part of the Union Territory (i.e directly administered by the Union/Federal government of India) of Pondicherry on the east coast.
Mahé is named for Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais, a key architect of French policy in India. Its population was 36 823 at the 2001 census. The principal languages spoken in Mahé are Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. The original name of Mahé is Mayyali, meaning "mouth of the black river".
The French East India Company constructed a fort on the site of Mahé in 1724, after an accord concluded between André Mollandin and the raja Vazhunnavar of Badagara three years earlier. In 1741, Mahé de La Bourdonnais retook the town after a period of occupation by the Marathas.
Mahé remained under French jurisdiction until 13 June 1954, when it finally joined the Indian Union.
See also
Last updated: 05-16-2005 14:04:56
