List of lieutenant governors of Puducherry facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry
Emblem of Puducherry
Incumbent Kuniyil Kailashnathan since 7 August 2024
Style	His Excellency (formal) The Honourable (informal)
Reports to	President of India Government of India
Residence	Raj Niwas, Puducherry
Appointer	President of India on the advice of the Government of India
Term length	5 Years
Inaugural holder	S. L. Silam
Formation	14 October 1963 (61 years ago) (1963-10-14)

Puducherry, once known as "Pondicherry," is a special area in India called a Union Territory. This means it is governed directly by the central government of India, not by its own state government like other Indian states.

Understanding Puducherry's Leaders

Puducherry has a long history of different leaders. Over time, the title of the person in charge has changed as the territory's ownership shifted. Let's explore the different types of leaders who have governed Puducherry.

Early Leaders: French Rule

For many years, Puducherry was under French control. During this time, the top officials were called Commissioners and later Governors. They were in charge of the French settlements in India.

French Commissioners (1668–1699)

These were some of the first leaders when the French arrived.

• François Caron, 1668–1672
• François Baron, 1672–1681
• François Martin, 1681 – November 1693
• Dutch occupation, September 1693 – September 1699 — The Dutch took control for a few years.

French Governors (1699–1947)

After the Dutch left, the French continued to govern. The main leader was often called the Governor of Pondicherry.

Quai Dupleix at Strand Road Chandernagor

Chandernagore Government House and Convent

• François Martin, September 1699 – 31 December 1706
• Pierre Dulivier (Acting), January 1707 – July 1708
• Guillaume André d'Hébert, 1708–1712
• Pierre Dulivier, 1713–1715
• Guillaume André d'Hébert, 1715–1718
• Pierre André Prévost de La Prévostière, August 1718 – 11 October 1721
• Pierre Christoph Le Noir (Acting), 1721–1723
• Joseph Beauvollier de Courchant, 1723–1726
• Pierre Christoph Le Noir, 1727–1734
• Pierre Benoît Dumas, 1735–1741
• Joseph François Dupleix, 14 January 1742 – 15 October 1754
• Charles Godeheu, Le commissaire (Acting), 15 October 1754 – 1754
• Georges Duval de Leyrit, 1756–1758
• Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally, 1758 – January 1761
• First British occupation, January 15, 1761 – June 25, 1765 — The British took control for a while.
• Jean Law de Lauriston, 1765–1766
• Antoine Boyellau (Acting), 1766–1767
• Jean Law de Lauriston, 1767 – January 1777

Chandernagor Government House

• Second British occupation, 1778 – 1783 — The British took control again.
• Guillaume de Bellecombe, January 1777 – 1778
• Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, 1783–1785
• François de Souillac, 1785
• David Charpentier de Cossigny, October 1785 – 1787
• Thomas Conway, October 1787 – 1789
• Camille Charles Leclerc, Chevalier de Fresne, 1789–1792
• Dominique Prosper de Chermont, November 1792 – 1793
• L. Leroux de Touffreville, 1793
• Third British occupation, 23 August 1793 – 18 June 1802 — Another period of British control.
• Charles Mathieu Isidore Decaen, 18 June 1802 – August 1803
• Louis Binot, 1803
• Fourth British occupation, August 1803 – 26 September 1816 — The British were in charge one more time.
• Comte Dupuy, 26 September 1816 – October 1825
• Joseph Cordier, Marie Emmanuel (Acting), October 1825 – 19 June 1826
• Eugène Desbassayns de Richemont, 1826 – 2 August 1828
• Joseph Cordier, Marie Emmanuel (Acting), 2 August 1828 – 11 April 1829
• Auguste Jacques Nicolas Peureux de Mélay, 11 April 1829 – 3 May 1835
• Hubert Jean Victor, Marquis de Saint-Simon, 3 May 1835 – April 1840
• Paul de Nourquer du Camper, April 1840 – 1844
• Louis Pujol, 1844–1849
• Hyacinthe Marie de Lalande de Calan, 1849–1850
• Philippe Achille Bédier, 1851–1852
• Raymond de Saint-Maur, August 1852 – April 1857
• Alexandre Durand d'Ubraye, April 1857 – January 1863
• Napoléon Joseph Louis Bontemps, January 1863 – June 1871
• Antoine-Léonce Michaux, June 1871 – November 1871
• Pierre Aristide Faron, November 1871 – 1875
• Adolph Joseph Antoine Trillard, 1875–1878
• Léonce Laugier, February 1879 – April 1881
• Théodore Drouhet, 1881 – October 1884
• Étienne Richaud, October 1884 – 1886
• Édouard Manès, 1886–1888
• Georges Jules Piquet, 1888–1889
• Louis Hippolyte Marie Nouet, 1889–1891
• Léon Émile Clément-Thomas, 1891–1896
• Louis Jean Girod, 1896 – February 1898
• François Pierre Rodier, February 1898 – 11 January 1902
• Louis Pelletan (Acting), 11 January 1902
• Victor Louis Marie Lanrezac, 1902–1904
• Philema Lemaire, August 1904 – April 1905
• Joseph Pascal François, April 1905 – October 1906
• Gabriel Louis Angoulvant, October 1906 – 3 December 1907
• Adrien Jules Jean Bonhoure, 1908–1909
• Ernest Fernand Lévecque, 1909 – 9 July 1910
• Alfred Albert Martineau, 9 July 1910 – July 1911
• Pierre Louis Alfred Duprat, July 1911 – November 1913
• Alfred Albert Martineau, November 1913 – 29 June 1918
• Pierre Étienne Clayssen (Acting), 29 June 1918 – 21 February 1919
• Louis Martial Innocent Gerbinis, 21 February 1919 – 11 February 1926
• Henri Léo Eugène Lagroua (Acting), 11 February 1926 – 5 August 1926
• Pierre Jean Henri Didelot, 1926–1928
• Robert Paul Marie de Guise, 1928–1931
• François Adrien Juvanon, 1931–1934
• Léon Solomiac, August 1934 – 1936
• Horace Valentin Crocicchia, 1936–1938
• Louis Alexis Étienne Bonvin, 26 September 1938 – 1945
• Nicolas Ernest Marie Maurice Jeandin, 1945–1946
• Charles François Marie Baron, 20 March 1946 – 20 August 1947

In 1946, French India became an Overseas territory of France.

Commissioners (1947–1954)

These Commissioners served during the final years of French rule before Puducherry joined India.

• Charles François Marie Baron, 20 August 1947 – May 1949
• Charles Chambon, May 1949 – 31 July 1950
• André Ménard, 31 July 1950 – October 1954
• Georges Escargueil, October 1954 – 1 November 1954

In 1954, French India officially became part of the Republic of India.

Transition to India: High Commissioners

After Puducherry joined India, a new type of leader was appointed: the High Commissioner. This person had similar powers to the old French Commissioner but reported directly to the Indian government.

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	De jure sovereignty	De facto sovereignty
1	Singh, KewalKewal Singh		21 October 1954	16 November 1956	France	France (Until Nov 1 1954) India (Since Nov 1 1954)
2	Kripalani, M.K.M.K. Kripalani		17 November 1956	27 August 1958		India
3	Singh, Lal Ram SaranLal Ram Saran Singh		30 August 1958	8 February 1961
4	Dutta, Sisir KumarSisir Kumar Dutta		2 May 1961	1 August 1963	France (Until Aug 16 1962) India (Since Aug 16 1962)
5	Somasundaram, K.J.K.J. Somasundaram		2 August 1963	13 October 1963	India

Lieutenant Governors: Today's Leaders

Since July 1, 1963, Puducherry has been a Union Territory, and the High Commissioner was replaced by the Lieutenant Governor. The Lieutenant Governor lives at the Raj Niwas, which was once the palace of the French Governor General. The central government of India plays a big role in supporting Puducherry financially.

Only a few Lieutenant Governors have served for more than four years. S.L. Silam was the only one to complete a full five-year term. Kiran Bedi served the second longest term.

Here is a list of the Lieutenant Governors of Puducherry:

No.	Name	Portrait	Took office	Left office	Duration
1	Silam, S.L.S.L. Silam		14 Oct 1963	13 Oct 1968	4 years, 365 days
2	Jatti, B.D.B.D. Jatti		14 Oct 1968	7 Nov 1972	4 years, 24 days
3	, ChhedilalChhedilal		8 Nov 1972	29 Aug 1976	3 years, 295 days
4	Kulkarni, B.T.B.T. Kulkarni		30 Aug 1976	31 Oct 1980	4 years, 62 days
5	Vyas, Ram KishoreRam Kishore Vyas		1 Nov 1980	15 Apr 1981	165 days
-	Ali, Sri SadiqSri Sadiq Ali		16 Apr 1981	26 Jul 1981	101 days
6	Haldipur, R.N.R.N. Haldipur		27 Jul 1981	14 May 1982	291 days
7	Chandy, K.M.K.M. Chandy		15 May 1982	5 Aug 1983	1 year, 82 days
8	Rao, Kona PrabhakaraKona Prabhakara Rao		2 Sep 1983	17 Jun 1984	289 days
-	Khurana, S.L.S.L. Khurana		18 Jun 1984	30 Sep 1984	104 days
9	Tewary, Tribhuvan PrasadTribhuvan Prasad Tewary		1 Oct 1984	21 Jun 1988	3 years, 264 days
10	Dyal, Ranjit SinghRanjit Singh Dyal		22 Jun 1988	19 Feb 1990	1 year, 242 days
11	, ChandrawatiChandrawati		19 Feb 1990	18 Dec 1990	302 days
12	Singh, Har SwarupHar Swarup Singh		19 Dec 1990	05 Feb 1993	2 years, 48 days
-	Singh, Bishma NarainBishma Narain Singh		06 Feb 1993	31 May 1993	2 years, 84 days
-	Channa Reddy, MarriMarri Channa Reddy		31 May 1993	1 May 1995	1 year, 335 days
13	Bajpai, Rajendra KumariRajendra Kumari Bajpai		2 May 1995	22 Apr 1998	2 years, 355 days
14	Rai, RajaniRajani Rai		23 Apr 1998	29 Jul 2002	4 years, 97 days
15	Malkani, K. R.K. R. Malkani		31 Jul 2002	27 Oct 2003	1 year, 88 days
-	Rama Mohan Rao, P.S.P.S. Rama Mohan Rao		27 Oct 2003	5 Jan 2004	70 days
16	Jha, Nagendra NathNagendra Nath Jha		5 Jan 2004	6 Jul 2004	183 days
17	Lakhera, M. M.M. M. Lakhera		7 Jul 2004	18 Jul 2006	2 years, 11 days
18	Mithi, MukutMukut Mithi		19 Jul 2006	12 Mar 2008	1 year, 237 days
19	Singh, BhopinderBhopinder Singh		15 Mar 2008	22 Jul 2008	129 days
20	Gurjar, Govind SinghGovind Singh Gurjar		23 Jul 2008	6 Apr 2009	257 days
-	Barnala, Surjit SinghSurjit Singh Barnala		9 Apr 2009	27 Jul 2009	109 days
21	Singh, IqbalIqbal Singh		27 Jul 2009	9 Jul 2013	3 years, 347 days
22	Kataria, VirendraVirendra Kataria		10 Jul 2013	11 Jul 2014	1 year, 1 day
23	Singh, A. K.A. K. Singh		12 Jul 2014	26 May 2016	1 year, 319 days
24	Bedi, KiranKiran Bedi		28 May 2016	16 Feb 2021	4 years, 264 days
-	Soundararajan, TamilisaiTamilisai Soundararajan (additional charge)		18 Feb 2021	18 March 2024	3 years, 30 days
-	C.P. Radhakrishnan (additional charge)		20 March 2024	6 August 2024	134 days
25	Kuniyil Kailashnathan		7 August 2024	Incumbent	352 days

See also

• Puducherry
• Governors in India
• Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• List of chief ministers of Puducherry