For other sieges with this name, see Siege of Pondicherry (disambiguation) The siege of Pondicherry was a colonial military operation in the early stages of the French Revolutionary Wars. Britain and France both controlled colonies on the Indian Subcontinent and when the French National Convention declared war on Britain on 1 February 1793, both sides were prepared for conflict in India. British India was centred on the principal ports of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, administered by the East India Company. French India was governed from Pondicherry (modern Puducherry) on the Coromandel Coast. British forces in India were considerably stronger than the French, with the British Indian Army supported by British Army detachments and a Royal Navy squadron under Rear-Admiral William Cornwallis.