Civility and Humiliation under the F rench Flag: The Tensions of Colonial Liberalism in P ondicherry, 1871–86

This article explores the extension of political “liberty” and franchise – as well as the eventual extension of citizenship rights – to I ndians during the decades of F rance's T hird R epublic (1870s–80s) in F rench colonial I ndia. Not only does this example stand in stark contrast to the civil position of I ndians in B ritish I ndia at the time, but it was also something of a unique situation in the F rench colonial world. How did the F rench attempt to apply a colonial policy of liberalism to I ndian communities in P ondicherry, I ndia, whose social world was constructed upon caste‐based rituals and rules? I argue that liberal policies that could violate caste rules concerning purity and lead to the loss of communal rights cannot be assessed without understanding how they were received and instrumentalized by the I ndian population. Overall, the difficulty of transplanting liberalism in P ondicherry was not due just to the opposition of colonial society, but also due to the resistance of local I ndians. Rejections of a more emancipatory agenda meant that the republican “civility” of liberty, equality and fraternity was compromised, and this illustrates one of the fundamental tensions in imperial/liberal discourse at the time.