''L'Inde française'' or ''"L'Inde française ou Collection de dessins lithographiés représentant les divinités, temples, costumes, physionomies, meubles, armes, et ustensiles, des peuples Hindous qui habitent les possessions françaises de l'Inde, et en général la côte de Cormandel et le Malabar"'' () was a collection of 144 lithographed plates issued in 25 parts between 1827 and 1835 by J.-J. Chabrelie, and the first important French book on

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. ''L'Inde française'' was about the French possessions in India, which were colonial possessions rather than mere trading posts. They included

Pondichéry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the capital and most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of India and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to ...

Karikal Karaikal (, , Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a port city of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is the administrative headquarters of the Karaikal district, Karaikal Di ...

and

Yanaon Yanaon (, , ) was one of the five principal settlements of French India between 1731 and 1954. It was referred to in British records as Yanam. Early years Reason for European interests The French in their earlier records does mention their ...

on the

Coromandel Coast The Coromandel Coast is a coastal region along the southeastern front of the Indian peninsula. Its delimitations are numerous, but generally admitted to be bounded by the Krishna River, Krishna river River mouth, mouth to the north, the Bay of B ...

, Mahé on the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...

, and Chandernagor in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. It was published in Paris in two folio volumes, the first of 90 plates, the second of 54, and the first edition dedicated to Paul Demidoff. The text was written by

Eugène Burnouf Eugène Burnouf (; April 8, 1801May 28, 1852) was a French scholar, an Indologist and orientalist. His notable works include a study of Sanskrit literature, translation of the Hindu text '' Bhagavata Purana'' and Buddhist text '' Lotus Sutra''. ...

(1801-1852), a philologist and professor at the ''

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

'', and an authority on the Indian subcontinent - he was also considered the father of modern Buddhist studies and produced many translations from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

. In the preface to ''L'Inde française'', he laments the lack of interest in India shown by his countrymen. The numerous deities of the Hindu pantheon are depicted, as are ceremonies and religious festivals, some notable civil and religious personalities, crafts and costumes sorted by caste, craftsmen, artists and scientists, barber, school teacher, astronomer, writer, doctor, merchant, water carrier, weaver, priest, gardener, launderer, stonemason, singer, dancer and hunter. The images were painted by A. Géringer, Louis Thomas Bardel, Feuchère, Midy, Weber, Beau, Jacques François Gauderique Llanta, Chénal, Jean-Pierre Thénot, Jean Francois Victor Dollet and Félix-Achille Saint-Aulaire. Mainly, they were worked on by (1785–1836), a foremost lithographic printer of the time.

Gallery

L' Inde Française20.jpg, L' Inde Française21.jpg, L' Inde Française22.jpg, L' Inde Française23b.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:L'Inde francaise 19th-century Indian books Fine illustrated books