The British East India Company captured Pondicherry (Puducherry) from the French in the year ______. 

The correct answer is 1761.

Key Points

• The British East India Company captured Pondicherry (Puducherry) from the French in the year 1761.
• Puducherry changed hands throughout the Anglo-French wars from 1742 to 1763, with the British "East India Company" capturing Puducherry from the French in 1761 and the French Company administration being restored by the Treaty of Paris in 1763.
• The British "East India Company" acquired control of the territory during the French Revolution in 1793, and it was returned to the French "East India Company" in 1814.
• When the British "East India Company" took control of India in the late 1850s, the French "East India Company" was allowed to keep their settlements in Pondicherry, Mahe, Yanam, Karaikal, and Chandernagore.​

Important Points

• The former French colonies of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe, and Yanam now make up the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The states of Tamilnadu and Kerala surround the Puducherry and Karaikal regions, while Kerala surrounds Mahe, and Andra Pradesh surrounds Yanam.
• Pondicherry was founded in 1673 after the "La Compagnie française des Indes Orientales" was granted firman by the Qiladar of Valikondapurarm, who served under the Sultan of Bijapur.
• A French Company Official named Bellanger moved into the Danish Lodge at Pondicherry on February 4, 1673.