We can find references to Poduke, a port town on the coromandal coast, in History. The identification of a Roman trading centre in the immediate vicinity of Pondicherry adds weight to the equation of 'Poduke' with Pondicherry. Although this has been suggested by more than one writer, the equation of 'Poduke' with 'Puduvai' the name by which the town was known in the early days, seems to be more acceptable. According to tradition, the town was once upon a time an abode of scholars well versed in the Vedas and hence came to be known as Vedapuri. Interestingly, during the days of Ottakoothar and Kambar in the 11th and 12th centuries, Puducherry was known in its shortened form as 'Puthuvai'. The Hindus called the town Puthuvai or Puducherry while the Muslims called it Pulcheri. The Portugese ‘Puducheria’ became the Danish ‘Polesere’ and the Dutch 'Pollochire'. But it was the French merchants who mixed up the 'U' for 'N' and transformed "Puducheri" into "Pondicheri". This region assumed the name Pondicherry in due course. Pondicherry otherwise known as 'Poudoucheri' was under Vijayanagar Empire during 14th and 15th centuries. Then it passed to the hands of the Naiks of Thanjavur in the beginning of 16th century, and then came under the rule of Bijapur sultan.

By about 16th century, the Portugese and Danish also used the place as a trading centre. The first Frenchman set his foot in ‘Puduchery’ on 4.2.1673 and till 1690 the French were interested mainly in trade and commerce activities. The name of the place was changed to ‘Pondicherry’ from 'Poudoucheri' by the French. In a war between the French and the Dutch, the former was defeated and Pondicherry came under Dutch rule between 1693 and 1699. In September 1699, the French became the legal owners of the Pondicherry town on payment of 16000 pagodas to the Dutch. The Nawab Dawood Khan, representative of Aurangazeb, donated Kalapet village in 1703 to Francois Martin for getting supply of timber from the forests surrounding it for construction of houses. In 1706, he had further transferred 5 more villages viz. Ozhukarai, Murungapakkam, Olandai, Pakkamudaiyanpet and Karuvadi-kuppam to the French. In 1711, the French government at Paris recognized the importance of Pondicherry town and established a sovereign counsel to aid and advise them in the administration of the colony. Francois Martin was the virtual builder of Pondicherry towns during span of 33 years of his administration here. In 1740, Pondicherry provided asylum to the royal refugees of the ruler of the Karnatic when marattas invaded him. Consequently, the Marattas attacked the French for this gesture but was defeated. In gratification of the gesture, the survivors of the Karnatic dynasty gifted Ariankuppam, Theduvanatham, and Villianur to the French.