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PUDUCHERRY POLICE The French were the last of the European powers to establish their trade stations in India. They came to Surat in 1666 after obtaining an imperial firman from the Moghul Emperor Aurangazeb. Wandering from the West to the East they finally established themselves in a village on the Coromandel Coast in 1674, with permission of Sher Khan Lodi a governor of the Bijapur Sultan. With this foothold on the East Coast, which became their main stay over the next 280 years, the French dreams of an Indian Empire began and ended - there in Pondicherry. The ‘Nayinar’ was the native chieftain responsible for the maintenance of law and order, holding the office by hereditary rights. Under this local chieftain were functionaries with varied designations - like ‘Paleyagars’ (petty chieftains) and ‘Thalavayes’ (sub-Inspector), to ‘Bechecars’ equated in rank almost on par with the Nayinar under the French. The Corps  of Sipayes was reorganised in 1773. In 1906 the strength of the police