Ananda Ranga Pillai and the French Pondicherry
A s I walked through the Ranga Pillai Street in Pondicherry, I asked my colleague if he knew the reason why the street was so named. Thankfully, he had heard of this colourful personality Ananda Ranga Pillai of French India who lived during the tumultuous times of the mid 18 th century when both the English and the French tried hard to have its foothold over South India. 18th century engraving of French Pondicherry Ananda Ranga Pillai (1709-61) was the first secretary and adviser of the French East India Company in Pondicherry during the early decades of the 18 th century. He was the “Dubash” or the translator and commercial representative of the French Governors, notably that of Joseph Francois Dupleix with whom he had a very personal rapport throughout his life. His private diary written in Tamil and covering the period from 1736 to 1761 is an amazing record of personal, historical, political and social matters during those momentous years of South Indian history. We shou...