Until the middle of the next century, Chandernagor rivaled Calcutta in its trade. The wars between the English and French were reflected thousands of miles away in the waters of the Ganges, too. Chandernagor was a heavily armed French garrison as was Calcutta for the English. Chandernagor's history reflects the upheaval of Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the course of th
ese wars, Chandernagor was taken by the British twice between 1757 and 1763 and then again between 1794 and 1815. Chandernagor was the sourcing point for o***m for the French and supported more than half of the finances of French Indo-China. Chandernagor remained a French colony until 1949 when a referendum led to its merger with the Republic of India. Chandernagor was a favorite spot for rich Calcuttans during the first half of the twentieth century for French food and wine, duty-free. Chandernagor's French aura remains even after almost fifty years since the departure of the last Adminsitrateur. A gate with the motto of the French Republic "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" marks the entrance to the former Etablissment de Chandernagor. The quai Dupleix, Chandernagor's waterfront road is lined with shady trees and public benches, replicas of the ones in Parisian parks. The former Administrateur's eighteenth century mansion is now a museum of French heritage in Chandernagor. The former Hotel de Paris, the Couvent Saint-Joseph and Rabindranath Tagore's house are amongst the many heritage buildings that line the quai Dupleix. Behind the Administrateur's residence stands the Eglise du Sacre Coeur, reminiscent of French village churches with a statue of Joan d'Arc and a Lourdes grotto. On the Rue de Paris, to the north of the town is the French cemetery with more memories of the colonial age.
