The rest of India which had been a British colony for two hundred years, Chandannagar was ruled by France. So it has an interesting history and Identity which had fascinated the historians throughout the world. The French came to Chandan nagar as also Bengal for the first time in 1673. In that year (1673-74) Duplessis, the French Commander,built a house after gathering a plot at Taldanga on the northern part of the present Chandan nagar with the permission of Ibrahim Khan, the Nawab of Bengal in that time.Then in 1687 the French commander Deslandes started business at Bandel in Hooghly; but coming across many inconveniences he tried to shift to another place in Hooghly and failed to receive the permission of the Nawab to build a new firm at the very place obtained by Duplessis at Chandannagar. At last in the next year, the French received the permission to carry on duty free business in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa on payment of Rs. 40,000/- to the Mughal Government (Aurungzeb was Emperor at that time). Deslandes laid the foundation of Chandan nagar.In course of time Chandan nagar occupied the topmost position among all foreign settlements of Bengal in trade and commerce. It maintained trade relations with Basora, China, Pegu, Jedda, Tibet etc. In those days Chandan nagar was a bigger center of commerce than Calcutta.The first European named Louis Bonnaud who established the indigo plant along the cultivation of the crop in this country was an inhabitant of Chandan nagar. Batakrishna Ghosh, the first founder of a cloth mill among Bengalis, was a resident of this place. The factory for manufacturing European tincture and other medicines which Dinanath Chandra established here was the first such organisation in this area. Names of Bengal Chemical, Indian Drugs etc. were even then unknown. Indra kumar Chattopadhyay, the first maker and publisher of a wall map containing locations of places in Bengal, was a man of this place. Chandan nagar continued as the commercial center but completely banking on the local businessmen. Among them Indra narayan Chowdhury was the most prominent figure. In the year 1730 he was appointed the courtier of the Company. He received a gold medal from Louis xv, the King of France. He constructed the temple of Sri Nanda dulal and a rest house in the year 1740.Colonel Robert Clive of Brittish East India Company Limited and Admiral Watson of British army captured Chandan nagar in March 1757. It was a turning point of Indian History. Chandan nagar was again taken by French through a treaty with the British but again lost to them in 1794 but ultimately ruled the town from 1816 to 1950.
In 1832 the French administrators set up the Comite de Bienfaisance whose main aim was to help the poor people.In 1862, Ecole de saint mare was established, which is at present one of the best educational institutions of the town- Kanailal Vidyamandir. In 1867 alfred Curjon set up a convent for the upliftment of the women education system. In 1871, a big hospital was set up in Chandan nagar with the help of Doctor Margon. In 1896, Durga charan Rakshit, the courtier of the French Government, achieved the distinction of becoming the first Indian to be conferred with the chevalier de legion d'Honour.In 1915, twenty people from Chandan nagar participated in World War - I in support of the French people. The"Father of the Nation' Mahatma Gandhi came to Pravartak in Chandan nagar to inspire people in the freedom struggle in 1925 and again in December, 1927. As Chandannagar was under the French rule, the party make it decided to make it their district headquarters.In 1947, the French Government declared Chandan nagar a free city and gave more power to Sasan Parishad. In June 1948, the French Government went for a pole to decide the status of the city and in the opinion poll a overwhelming majority of 97% people expressed their desire to merge with India.So, in May 1950, the French made a defacement transfer of Chandan nagar to the Indian Government and on 2nd February, 1952 they made De Jure transfer which was approved by the French Republican Society on 11th April 1952. On 2nd October 1955, Chandan nagar completely became a part of India.
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