Historedia
Asia PacificEvent

British Capture of Pondichéry

When
1761–1763
Where
Pondicherry, French settlement on the southeast coast of India; Pondicherry
Episodes
2

In January 1761, British forces captured Pondicherry, the chief French settlement in India, during the Seven Years' War. The city remained in British hands until it was returned to France under the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The supplied sources give the capture date as 16 January 1761, not 14 January.

Episodes

  1. 16 January 1761 · Pondicherry, French settlement on the southeast coast of IndiaBritish Capture of Pondicherry

    British forces captured Pondicherry from the French on 16 January 1761, during the Seven Years' War.

  2. 1763 · PondicherryReturn to France under the Treaty of Paris

    Pondicherry was returned to France under the 1763 Treaty of Paris at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War.

Background and detail

Background. Pondicherry, on the southeast coast of India, had been a French possession since the French East India Company established a trading centre there in 1674, and the outpost eventually became the chief French settlement in India. The town had changed hands before: the Dutch captured it in 1693 during the Nine Years' War, and it was returned to France in 1699 under the Peace of Ryswick.

The British Capture. On 16 January 1761, the British captured Pondicherry from the French. The sources do not name the commanders or regiments involved on either side, nor do they describe the course of the siege; they record only the outcome and date of the capture.

Aftermath and Return. The British held Pondicherry only temporarily. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, concluded at the end of the Seven Years' War, the city was returned to France. The sources do not describe the condition of the town at restitution or the terms of the handover beyond the treaty provision.

Sources

  1. Pondicherry Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.