A short history of the Institute

Established under the terms of the Treaty of Cession of French Territories in India, the French Institute of Pondicherry was inaugurated on March 21, 1955.

The IFP, UMIFRE 21 CNRS-MAEE, is a financially autonomous institution (EAF). It is part of the network of 27 research centres connected to the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (MAEE) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). It is a part, along with the Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH) in New Delhi, of the research unit 3330 "Savoirs et Mondes Indiens" created by the French National Institute for Human and Social Sciences (INSHS) in 2009.

The IFP ’s vocation is to conduct research, expertise and training in the fields of Indology (Indian Society, History and Culture), Ecology (Environment and Sustainable Development) and Social Sciences (Contemporary Social Dynamics) in India and South-East Asia. It is recognized by the Treaty of Cession of French Territories in India (1956) as an “establishment for higher studies and research in India”. The IFP is also an affiliated research institute of the Pondicherry University.

Three Departments: Indology, Social Sciences, Ecology

- The Department of Indology focuses its attention on the key features of classical India, namely, its religions, literature, languages (Sanskrit, Tamil, etc.) in order to better interpret and study the foundations of modern India

- The Department of Social Sciences promotes research on the major questions of society and on the relations between human societies and their environment

- The Department of Ecology concentrates its research on biodiversity and notably on the functioning of fragile ecosystems (forests, mangroves, etc.), by considering man as an important factor in their evolution

Two “transversal structures” support the research departments: A Laboratory of Applied Informatics and Geomatics, and a Centre for Documentary Resources which has more than 60 000 books. The IFP also has the largest collection in the world of palm-leaf manuscripts pertaining to the Saivasiddhanta, and registered as such in the "Memory of the World" register of the UNESCO.