History
The French occupied Yanam in 1723. It ranks third in the antiquity of the Five former French Settlements
- Chandernagor – Year 1673
- Pondichery – Year 1674
- Yanam – Year 1723
- Mahe – Year 1725
- Karaikal – Year 1739
The tiny town’s history therefore dates back to 1723 when the Compagnie des indes of France established here a trading post of theirs. It was vacated after four years because their commercial operations did not produce the desired results. It was seized again in 1731 during the time of Dupleix. A PARWANA from Haji Hassan Khan authorised the French Representative Fouquet, then Chief of the Company at Machilipatnam (325 kms. away from Yanam) to set up a ‘loge’ at Yanam in the year 1731.
Musafar Jung, the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1750, confirmed the sovereignty of the French over the territory. The place was formally ceded to them only two years later. Like all other settlements, Yanam too fell thrice into the hands of the British. After the Napoleanic War, Yanam along with the factory at Machilipatnam was finally returned to the French early in 1817
A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF YANAM
It is mentioned in the book, the botanic garden of Yanam by Colonel A. Bigot that at first, the French establishment a warehouse here in 1723 A.D. Since the business became slack, it was given up in 1727 A.D. and was re-occupied in 1742 A.D. A `Fireman’ was issued by the Mughal emperor, confirming all the concessions made to the French by Salabathjung, the Subadar of Deccan.
These concessions were in the shape of the donations and the name `Inam’ was changed into Yanam(Yanaon) by the French in the course of time. People say that this region was presented to Mr. Bussy, the French General by a Vijayanagara King as a token of gratitude for the help rendered by Mr. Bussy in the fight against the rulers of Bobbili. We can se his street named after `Bussy’ here. It s believed that Bussy had stayed in a certain building in this street.
In the west of Yanam, we can find `Neelikundilu'(Indiog wells) people say that the Dutch constructed a front here in which they used to keep their currency, minted in the mint at Neelapalli, a near by village.
Yanam is situated on the East Coast, in the district of East Godavary, Andhra Pradesh. It was occupied by the French in 1723. It ranks the third in the antiquity of the Five former French settlements i.e. Chandernagar 1673, 2. Pondicherry 1674, 3. Yanam 1723, 4. Mahe 1725 and Karaikal 1739. Yanam was under the French rule for more than two centuries. It was liberated in 1954. It is now one of the component parts of the Pondicherry State.