EAP191/1/1

This series, started in 1823 under the name Archives administratives des Etablissements francais de I'Inde, was the first gazette to be published from Pondicherry by the French colonial government and was intended to notify the various branches of government as well as the public about the new laws, ordinances, orders etc. that had been passed. The name of the gazette changed from Archives administratives to Bulletin des actes administratfs des Etablissements francais de I'Inde via a government order of 20th March 1828 (see Bulletin officiel 1828, pages 1-4). It stated that from the 1st of January 1828 the Archives administratives would be replaced by an official compilation of the same kind under the name of Bulletin des actes administratifs. The Bulletin would contain the ordinances issued by His Majesty relating to the French establishments in India, royal laws and ordinances of which the application will be prescribed, rules, instructions, circulars and telegrams from the Dept. of Marines and Colonies which bear on legislative or administrative matters, local circulars containing instructions, nominations, promotions etc; finally all publications relating directly or indirectly to legislation or to the local administration and which the government thinks appropriate to be made known (all local decisions were generally signed by the Governor of the French Establishments in India). The format, justifications and mode of classification of the Bulletin des actes would be the same as those of the Bulletin des lois. The issues would appear at undetermined intervals, more or less close, depending on the abundance and importance of the material to be published. The print-run would be of 150 copies. Free copies would be sent to various officials such as the Minister of Marines and Colonies, Governors of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane française, Sénégal, Bourbon and to various officials in the territories of Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karikal, Mahe, Yanoan (i.e. the French establishments in India). Individuals would be able to subscribe to the Bulletin, the annual subscription rate being fixed at 4 rupees, i.e. or 9 francs 60 cents, to be paid in advance.

The frequency of the serial was regularized via an order of 31st July 1846 (see Bulletin officiel 1846, pages 154-162) which stated that the issues would appear every month and that the print-run would be as deemed necessary. For those responsible for the implementation of the orders/laws, the Bulletin would be the only form of notification.

The change in name from Bulletin des actes administratifs to Bulletin officiel des Etablissements francais de I'Inde was made through a decision of 15th November 1866 (see Bulletin officiel (1866), pages 221-223). It highlighted the difficulties in bringing out the Bulletin once a month: the “actes” (i.e. official documents) had to be published chronologically. This was very inconvenient since the administration had to notify at the same time 4 dependencies where the orders/laws had to be executed. While waiting for the official documents to appear in the Bulletin, they had to be notified in manuscript form. It was difficult to go faster since the printing press had too much work and limited resources, etc. To solve this, the decision was taken to publish the Bulletin issue-wise instead of month-wise. Though most often there would be only one issue in a month, if the administration needed to notify any of the decisions urgently by bringing out additional issues, it would be able to do so. Since the chronological order would no longer be strictly followed, each issue would carry a list of all the administrative documents it contained, on the model of the Bulletin officiel of the Marine.

Further information on the format and publication of the series was provided in an order of 29th March 1888 which reorganized the Government Press. “The Bulletin officiel of the colony will be printed on full sheet, square format and will be published from number 1 to 12 for each year. The issue for each month will contain all the orders passed in the colony during that month and will have to be published by the following month. Each issue will be divided into three parts: the first containing the table of contents (sommaire) the second, the regulatory documents themselves and the third the nominations, transfers, etc. In the first six months of the following year three indices (tables) will be published: one chronological, the other analytical and the third an alphabetical index of the nominations and transfers. These indices will be bound with the issues of the Bulletin of the year to which they belong. To ensure the regularity of this publication the heads of the administration will have to send to the secretary-archivist the various documents relevant to their service and the table of contents (sommaires) latest by the 5th of each month for inclusion in the Bulletin officiel of the colony of the previous month. The secretary-archivist will submit these lists to the Governor with his comments, where necessary. Once they are approved by the Governor they will be sent to the Chief of the Government Press, who will give a receipt. (Bulletin officiel 1888, p. 356-357). The annexe of the order mentions the subscription rate (1 Rupee or 4 FF) and the free copies to be given out (169). Earlier orders mention the print run of the series as 289 (189 free copies plus 100 for sale) (see Bulletin officiel 1881, p. 114) and 350 (234 free copies plus 116 for sale) (see Bulletin officiel 1884, p. 179).

The decision of stopping the publication of the Bulletin officiel from the 1st of January 1911 was taken on 27th December 1910 (see Bulletin officiel 1910, pages 980-981). The same decision stated that the Journal officiel would be published in 2 parts: one would contain the “actes” of the Metropolis (i.e. Paris) and those of the local Government, including promotions, nominations, transfers and all decisions concerning personnel. The second would consist of official notices, legal announcements, various notices and all non-official publications. Started on 6th January 1894, the Journal officiel des Établissements français dans l’Inde continued the Moniteur officiel des Établissements français dans l’Inde: Journal administratif, judiciaire, commercial et littéraire which ran from 8th March 1850 to 30th December 1893. The Journal officiel is the series 3 in the EAP 191 project.

It would seem therefore that the Bulletin was stopped once it was decided that there was no need of 2 gazettes and that the notifications could now be made solely in the Journal officiel, which was already carrying the official notifications.

The IFP library's holding for this 1st series is almost complete, except for the year 1830.

85 volumes containing 933 issues; height ranging from 17 to 22.5 cm.